


Deluge

by anticholinesterase



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Aesthetically pleasing murder tableaux, Alpha Hannibal Lecter, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Courtship, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Will Graham, Pining, Slow Burn, Someone Help Will Graham
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:15:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25955074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anticholinesterase/pseuds/anticholinesterase
Summary: “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire to what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.”– Oscar WildeorWill Graham is an omega FBI profiler who has been living secretly as a beta for the last twenty years. His life takes a turn when his last case leaves Abigail Hobbs orphaned and with family issues of her own. Cue Dr. Hannibal Lecter, an alpha who didn’t seem interested in the concept of family at all until a certain omega in hiding enters his life.A study in courtship, desire and murderous gifts.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 192
Kudos: 901
Collections: #SummertimeSlick





	1. Empathetic Omegas

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I am a long (long) time reader, but this is my first time actually writing fanfiction! Please, be gentle with me :)  
> I am really excited about this one! I have it halfway finished already, but I will be posting it weekly to be able to catch up.  
> Please let me know what you think in the comments!
> 
> Hop on, kids, and let's see how much we can overwhelm Will Graham.

Will stared at the ornamented wooden door, fidgeting in place. He was late. He was late on purpose because he did not want to come. The events of that evening two weeks prior kept rushing through his head. Angry alpha. Murderous alpha. Blood on his hands. Family in shambles, no matter his efforts. He did his job, he did his job well and proper, no one doubted that. But the images ingrained in his brain did not let the whole ordeal go to rest. He anxiously looked up and down the street with the fancy cars and proper parks where distinct alphas would take their distinct women and children on casual strolls. Where mated alphas and omegas would have picnics and plan their perfect lives together, no gruesome thoughts, no doubts in their minds.

He sneered.

Angry alpha. Murderous alpha. Blood on his hands. And Abigail would be there. He most definitely was not ready to face her. Not so soon, perhaps not in a whole while. He should not have come. Maybe if he called Alana, maybe if he delivered some half-assed attempt at an excuse-- she was used to them anyway, she-

“I thought I overheard you at the door.’” Such door had suddenly opened, while Will’s knuckles still hoovered undecidedly over it. “The others were wondering whether you might be long. Please, do come in. We are having _hors d'oeuvre_ in the study.” The words were delivered in a voice with a distinguished accent. West European, cultured. Probably high class too. But that was not the most remarkable characteristic, no. The perfect posture, the elegant ease in acknowledging a virtual stranger with an air of casual dominance so quintessentially- “We have not been introduced before. I am Dr. Hannibal Lecter”- _alpha_. Of course. More alphas in his life. That’s exactly what he needed.

“Will Graham” he replied quietly, awkwardly, eyes downcast. “I am sorry for my lateness. I was kept at Quantico for processing.” A lie. He had left the building hours ago. Testimonies taken, case closed, Abigail was being cared for. Just one less alpha in the world. He had spent the last hour in a parking lot near Druid Hill Park, inside his car, gazing at nothing. Hunted by the ghost of broken families time and time again.

“More reason to rush in, then.” Hannibal reasoned, with a slight smile. He did not move from the threshold while he seemed to catalogue his guest with interest. Will knew he would be dealing with a psychiatrist, but an _alpha_ psychiatrist was just his luck. “You must be famished. Please, join us.” he gesticulated to the corridor inside, open arm, a perfect host. Will sighed, bracing himself. At least there would be food.

Two dishes in out of a three-course meal and so far they had managed to steer clear of rampant alphas and the victims they left behind, for which Will was profoundly grateful. He kept stealing glances at Abigail, who he had not seen since his long nights at her bedside in the hospital. For all that he was invested in her wellbeing, he felt too awkward to actually question her about it.

The rectangular dinner table was set for six, with the alphas Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Jack Crawford manning the corners. The middle seats were dedicated to betas (a category of lesser men, which Will meekly usurped for himself), women and children. It was all very traditional. But then again, _Dr. Hannibal Lecter_ , with his two-story residence and his three-piece suit seemed like a traditional alpha type. Will felt bleary with the atmosphere.

Over his head, Hannibal and Jack were discussing gender-based expectations in career paths and their eventual downfalls in the current society. _Typical_. You can always trust an alpha to believe their opinion on whatever matter to be a god given declaration.

“I have encountered several examples of neuroticism that I believe are intrinsically linked to alphas and omegas fulfilling misguided duties within society.” Will only marginally knew Hannibal through Alana and this was the first time he was seeing him in person. But he did not need his empathy to get the gist of it. Alpha. Purebred. Had made a name for himself not only in academia and amidst his patients but also rubbing elbows with the highest of Baltimore’s society. That he had reached his late forties without a mate was a never-ending item of gossip, as alphas’ and omega’s love life often was. Will was glad that hiding his identity at least removed him from society’s scrutiny in this aspect.

Jack was nodding along to Hannibal’s words. “We had this problem in the BAU before. Alpha agents that would not defer to higher ranks. Ruts triggered by omega civilians in distress. We even had the odd omega having to be locked down because their pheromones were triggering the entire team. If all of them just stuck to their suppressant regimen and followed their goddamn superiors we wouldn’t have this headache all the time.”

Alana unobtrusively touched his forearm under the table, but Will was fine with it, really. It was not like he hadn’t heard all this noise before. He had been using suppressants and beta scent pheromones religiously for twenty years now. He knew damn well how to keep his head down and hide in plain sight.

“At least we don’t have to worry about this nonsense with betas.” Jack nodded at Will’s direction, who, as if caught red-handed, retributed with a jerky nod of his own.

“Or women.” Alana added with a smirk, diverting the attention to herself. Will sighed in relief. He thought once again how glad he was to have her on his side.

Alana added her input every once in a while with conviction. She had experience with gender issues in her line of work as a psychiatrist. She also had tons of experience dealing with genders masking themselves as other not due to dysphoria, but due to convenience, Will being a prime and constant example of that. He had passed as a beta for years, even before working for Jack. Since he left home at the age of sixteen. Even more so since he knew being at the forefront of crime investigation was his choice of career. Never as an omega though. Absolutely not. No omegas allowed in positions of power and decision making.

Alana knew all of this, supporting him from the beginning. She was the only one in their circle of acquaintances who knew he was an omega and she took the burden of this knowledge with grace. It incited her motherly instincts, though such instincts were not as intense as Will’s omega ones could ever be. He was not that bothered by them, though, not in the least. In fact, he never failed to be a bit surprised by the novelty of it. It was nice having someone who cared.

“I guess men are just all too busy fighting with each other to acknowledge that all their power structures would crumble without us women to keep it rational.” This was proffered by the other woman present at the table, Jack’s mate Bella. So far she had kept to herself, but now offered Alana a sardonic smile of her own.

Next to her was Abigail, with an echarpe around her neck and Will tried hard not to succumb to her mindset, imagine what she was going through, imagine being orphaned, witnessing her father’s murder- Will couldn’t focus on her, on what she might be feeling right now, or he would get too overwhelmed with grief. Grief for her lost family. Grief for the life he created for her the minute his finger pressed the trigger on her alpha father. He knew though - _he knew_ \- what damage a broken family could do to an individual. For that he didn’t have to look far.

A hand on his shoulder made him snap back to the ongoing conversation. Will looked up and met Alana’s eyes, searching his. Worry etched on her face. She knew how to read him too well in these uncomfortable outings. Her honest concern for him rubbed him a bit raw sometimes. He took off his glasses and scrubbed a hand through his face. “I am sorry, could you repeat that? I think I zoned out for a bit.”

Alana took her hand away, smiling softly in sympathy. Dr. Lecter was looking at them with an indiscernible expression. “Abigail was just relating her new found interest in Behavior Analysis” he said, finally taking his eyes of Will and directing them to the girl in question. “It is quite refreshing to witness young ones displaying interest in dissecting the matters of the mind.” He expressed such notion by tilting the glass of wine, a slight smile on his face. “One can never learn too much about the rules that guide human behavior, and by extension, what designs our own.” The last one was aimed with a slight glance towards Will, who squirmed at his chair, uncomfortable with the alpha’s attention.

Abigail preened from her chair. “I have been looking through some books of Alana’s that really caught my attention, these past weeks. I am currently obsessed with one called _Epigenetics of the Social Condition_ by Barry Lester. It has been really comforting to understand how alphas, betas and omegas are tied to their biology. And how much of their behavior is influenced by birth, and how much is just them responding to the circumstances of their environment.” She gazed at Alana as if looking for approval. Alana nodded serenely in return.

Will stared between them, a little shellshocked by this convo. Abigail seemed to be in a way better shape than he imagined she would be. Staying with Alana indefinitely while she recovered- away from _alphas_ and just men in general-might have been their best decision yet. He exhaled in relief releasing a bit of the tension he had been carrying on his shoulders for the past weeks. “It is also comforting to believe that while our origins are fixed, we are all malleable to follow our own paths by the shape of our experiences.” Abigail, while eager to share her thoughts, Will noted, seemed to be anxiously waiting for the men’s verdict. Rapid eyes flying between Hannibal and Will like a frightened little bird.

Hannibal regarded her thoughtfully, a glint in his eyes betraying his amusement. “Thus, in the eternal war between nature versus nurture, would you say there are no clear victors? I invariably regarded Mother Nature as too powerful a force to be reckoned with. Towering far above mere mortals for them to have any say in the matter.” He fixed Will with a stare, who felt it on his skin like a physical force. “Our Will here perhaps is uniquely qualified to assess the reality of such statements, given that his line of work is met with the brunt end of the faults in our behavior.”

Will felt immediately uncomfortable talking about what his line of work actually entailed in front of Abigail. One look in her direction, however, made him doubt the frailty he perhaps unfairly attributed to her. He should have known, honestly, that Abigail as a young woman was not so prone to emotional delicacy in the aftermath of tough situations like men tended to be. _Especially empathetic omegas_ \- whispered his mind nastily. “I believe the world would be a pit of chaos if we all fell to the whims of our nature. As we are now, most must be doing their best to adhere to the social contract and dial down the worst of their…impulses.” He made a face, avoiding all eye contact. “Fortunately, I have to deal with only the few unfortunate outliers. Still, the discrepancy between their numbers and the sheer amount of discord they are able to create is- _overwhelming_.” He gulped down the last of his wine, having said too much already.

Abigail seemed agitated. “My father is-was- as much a slave of his nature as he wanted to be. He was too weak to be what an alpha is supposed to be. If he could not abide to his own…. social contract, then it was only fair to put him down and rid us of his existence. I refuse to be his-his consequence, or fatality. Our genders don’t define us, and my DNA link to him certainly does not define me!” She finished with eyes bright with tears but resolute. Will was in awe with her strength. Apparently he was not the only one.

Hannibal, seemingly after a moment of appraisal, gave her a sharp smile and stood up to gather the plates. “Perhaps we all are deemed to choose our own levels of subservience to fate.” Will and Alana looked at each other, at loss about this current development while Abigail seemed to relax into herself, offering Hannibal a tiny smile. “Shall I bring out the desserts?”

Will felt unsettled and he was not sure of what exactly was causing it. Abigail seemed better by leaps and bounds. He should be happy for her, he really did, it was all he wanted. And yet…something about her posture towards Hannibal, after having another alpha so recently wreaking havoc in her life-

He had read before a couple of papers about stress-induced imprinting not only in omegas but also in women. It was common after the loss of an alpha to imprint on the next one. A need for security, stability. It was natural, it happened often. Will ran his hands around the ornamented mirror in the entry hall. Something about Hannibal, then. That just didn’t sit right with him. He hoped it was all in his head.

Alana appears at his side, coats in hands. “A penny for your thoughts?”

“Abigail is doing great, isn’t she? You are doing great by her.” The last time he saw her she had woken up from her coma. Disoriented and bruised, the scar of her father’s knife in stark contrast to her pale neck. Since then, Alana has been kind enough to keep him updated on her improvement without him having to ask. Seemed like this quiet exchange was over now. He fiddled with the latch of his watch.

“It was mostly her, really. She seems awfully determined to move on with her life. I will be soon looking into her fostering options.” A pause. She seemed to be searching for his eyes. Will braced himself. “Seems like moving on for you might take a bit more than time, though.”

_Oh._

Well. When your closest friend is a psychiatrist you get used to being psychoanalyzed time and time again. He coughed and scratched his head seeking how to get away from this conversation.

“You know I don’t blame you, Will.” She rushed out, agitated by his lack of response. “You had to put down a man in action. It is not easy to process that. You have to accept your situation in your own terms.” She supported her back against the wall next to Will, turning her head sideways to look at him. “But I am not sure you are progressing or just stagnated. I was hoping that seeing how well Abigail is doing might help you with that.”

Will maintained eye contact as much as he could before resigning himself to staring at the floor. He struggled to pick his next words. “It is just this alpha violence nonsense. It’s never easy for me to witness these families being destroyed by their egoistical issues. It’s like a disease, really. And it spreads, their actions spread and taint the ones around them. Marks the people they leave behind. A family can either make you or break you.” He scuffs the tip of shoe on the floor, a nervous tic. His voice had turned increasingly sour. He closed his eyes. “Loveless families lead to unlovable children. The mill turns, rinse and repeat. I feel- I am personally connected to it, you know? Well, _you know_. It all is just bringing me down.”

She hugged him sideways, the downward slope of her mouth betraying her sorrow for him. “Of course, I know. Which is why I thought you should come to Hannibal’s today. Listen-“ She turned to face him fully. He readied himself. _Here we go, then_. “Listen. I talked to Hannibal before, you know how esteemed he is to me. He is a fantastic psychiatrist and we came to an agreement on this particular matter. We think you should talk to him. Have conversations. You don’t have to deal with your feelings alone.” She was so sympathetic. It made it difficult to deny her anything.

“You know how I feel about people messing around with my head. Specially an alpha.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Specially an _unmated one_.” And there was something else, something off, but he couldn’t tell her that. Hannibal _scared him_ a bit. Be it the man, the psychiatrist or the alpha. As an omega he shied away from new people naturally. Being in a position of vulnerability with people that possessed such power over him, physically and emotionally, well. It definitely wasn’t his idea of a good time.

“Hannibal is as proper as they come, Will, alpha or not.” She chided him. But then her expression turned softer. “It might do you some good even, having the presence of a proper alpha in your life. Of what a decent alpha _can be_.”

Laughter in the hallway drew their attention to the incomers. Hannibal and Abigail reached them in what appeared to be good-hearted conversation. Abigail shook a leather-bound book in front of their faces.

“You will not believe the types of books Hannibal has in his library! There are first editions of psychology and basic neuroscience books I would never find online!” She was vibrating a bit with excitement. “He has been so kind to lend me this one.”

Hannibal was smiling at her benevolently. “And whichever else you might fancy. My library is always open to friends.” Will observed this trade with distrust. It got worse when Hannibal turned to focus on him. “I am sure Alana must have betrayed our concerns about your emotional status by now. Would it be too bold of me to allocate a time next week for our first appointment?”

Three sets of eyes turned to Will who found it hard to breathe with the weight of their attention. It felt like he was being included into something that was yet unnamed to him. He wasn’t convinced of Hannibal’s good nature, as much as Alana seemed to want him to. But Abigail’s obvious imprint on him made a spark of protectiveness flourish inside him. Will had orphaned her already and with this action came responsibility. He wanted her happy, in whichever capacity that happiness entailed. If that agreement encompassed this new alpha being present, well. Will didn’t have much say in it.

He gritted his teeth and looked up into Hannibal’s dark eyes, mysterious like deep waters. It felt like giving in to something. He planned to go down fighting. “Not at all. I will see you there.”


	2. Fishing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, first of all I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone that took their time to read this, leave a comment, bookmark it or give it kudos <3 Your feedback is kinda addictive, I'm digging this feeling a lot. I will work hard to keep on earning it!
> 
> Second, I took some liberties regarding characters motivations, specially Abigail and her father. It's minor to the plot, but the reasoning behind his killing worked best for me if I tweaked it, so I did just that. But it's omegaverse, so what are we not tweaking for our own personal benefit anyway, am I right?
> 
> Finally, I said I would be posting chapters weekly and I really intend to do that. So, expect new chapters every Friday unless I warn you otherwise.
> 
> I guess that's it. Enjoy some Will/Abigail bonding time. Next chapter we have the first one on one meeting between Will and Hannibal! 
> 
> Stay tuned!😉

The sound of the gravel being crushed on his driveway made him lift his eyes from the fly he was currently working on. He saw Alana’s hybrid pulling up and the dogs rushing to meet the newcomer. He was even more surprised to notice not Alana, but Abigail leaving the car and being mobbed by seven dogs curious to meet her. 

She waved at him through the window and he waved back hesitantly, trying to figure out why she would come visit him unannounced. Coming up empty, he brushed his hands on his jeans and went out to greet her.

“It’s beautiful out here!” She exclaimed looking out the acres of nature surrounding them. “I miss the woods, you know. Giving Mother Nature some of our better nature,” she smirked sideways at him but then sobered up a bit. “I always felt like I could be most myself without the pressure of anyone around to tell me otherwise.” Abigail finished it softly, gaze lost like she wasn’t even aware of what she was saying. “Coming face to face with the environment and overcoming it makes you feel like there’s very little you can’t control.”

Will was at loss, not knowing what might had led her to share those impromptu declarations. After a moment she shook her head, eyes clearing up. “Is that why you live here?”

He looked at the horizon where the sun was trying to set down but never actually making it. Trying so hard, but never really touching it. It felt like a stalemate. “I suppose I…don’t always have the luxury of being myself. You might be right. I am not always in control, but being here at least I can be in peace with it. Serenity to accept the things I cannot change and whatnot.”

“You are talking about being an omega, right?” she asked softly, eyes searching his. He flinched in shock and turned to face the street that led to his house. The streetlights were flickering on one by one. “Alana’s book collection is broad put I could pick up on some themes amongst them. She should also learn to clear her search history” she added, tone a bit mocking. She sobered up “She is very protective of you, isn’t she?” Still, no answer on his part. He was not prepared for this convo. The seconds trickled by which made Abigail hesitate before pushing on. “I just…can somewhat relate. In some capacity. Struggling with your identity, trying to take up the reins of who you are meant to be. You were not born to be an omega, so instead you become beta. It’s as simple as that.”

“It’s not simple.”

“It’s not?”

Those were thoughts that lived compartmentalized inside a nice little drawer in his brain. One that he didn’t bother to take out and analyze anymore. “I don’t have a- problem with being omega, _per se_. But just because I am, doesn’t mean that it’s right. That I am right.”

Will noticed he still had the fly he had been working on his hand. Copper Johns were easily bought for fishing trout, but he always appreciated making his own. Tying a bit of himself to it in the process. Being part of something.

He was fully aware of how deep his- omegan disposition ran. It was intrinsic to him, being made to flourish, to create family. How he longed for it. His immediate protective instincts towards Abigail at the slightest provocation. He didn’t have trouble with caring, never did. That was the problem. Part of the problem. Because even though he craved the family he never had, craved the stability and sense of belonging that was tied to being an omega, he knew- _he knew_ \- he could never cave in. Did not deserve it.

“I am no good as an omega, Abigail. Shouldn’t try to be either. Bad genes.” Abigail glanced questioningly at him.

He sighed. “My father is a beta” she looked up at him, puzzled. He pressed on “He is a good man, never failed to provide for me. He was just-distant. I grew up with his melancholy and the blatant lack of my mother’s presence. She had left him, I knew that much, for an alpha. A _real_ man. Left me too, in the process, though I wasn’t old enough to even understand why.” It was the first time in years he revisited the lanes of his mind that encompassed such memories. They felt dusty and brittle. Sour, like they were resentful for being left behind.

“I never knew why this reflected on me, why I had to bear the brunt of my father’s indifference. Until-until I reached sixteen and presented as an omega-“ he was cut out of his own thoughts by Abigail’s audible gasp. He looked at her as if realizing she was there for the first time. He chuckled wistfully. “Yeah. I was an omega. Therefore, not a beta’s son. Not my father’s son. He always knew that, I came to find out. But it was a shock to me. All this time he knew he was raising the child of some nameless alpha and a mother who didn’t bother. And for me it was a new type of heartbreak because it severed the one good link I had to family. The minute I noticed the grief I brought to him I ran away. Stayed with Alana for a while, started living as a beta. Haven’t seen him since.”

“Will, I-“ She looked at him with big sorrowful eyes, but she didn’t seem to know what to say to comfort him. There was no need for it, either.

“Never mind all that. It’s just not an option for me, anymore. But I know the one thing I _am_ good at, and that’s doing my job. And I can’t be an omega for that either, so it all works out in the end. Beta is what I need to be for all intents and purposes.” He shrugged like it was that easy, like it was all there it was to it. He rubbed his nose with his thumb, glanced at her sideways for a second. “I hope you can keep it to yourself, for my sake.”

She had knitted eyebrows and searching eyes, like she was looking for more answers than those he was comfortable to give. “Of course, I won’t say anything, Will. It’s not my place. I wouldn’t do that to you.” She seemed to debate a bit before pressing on. “Is that why you stopped coming to visit me?”

“Huh?”

“In the hospital. While I was recovering. I heard you sometimes. Reading to me. It was soothing.”

Will made an aborted movement, uncomfortable. He wasn’t aware she knew he was there. She wasn’t meant to _know_ , it’s just. He just wanted to make sure she was recovering. Strong. “I thought…it was better to stay away. Since- since I was responsible for your father’s death. Didn’t want to force you into awkward confrontations.”

She mulled this over for a minute. “He was not, though.”

“Not what?”

“My father.” She sensed his incomprehension. “Oh, sure we were biologically related. But he was not me and I was not him. He was _not_ my family. He resented me and I deserved more than him.”

Will waited silently for her to continue. It felt like something she needed to take out of her chest. “He hated us. Hated me. He was a failure of an alpha who shouldn’t have been given a family. He killed all those girls-all of them because he was too ashamed to kill me. Because he regretted me. Biology failed him completely.” She looked angry and spiteful, like she wanted to fight all the wrong done to her. Will hugged her one armed, trying to shield her from reality.

Will knew all of that of course. He had felt it all before when the pendulum stroke back and forth and enabled him to look inside Hobbs’ head. His killing became a compulsion, a habit, he didn’t thrive on it. He resented his family, his daughter and mostly himself. He wanted them all to die. So, he killed all of them. Over and over again, by proxy. And when he consumed his victims, he tried to atone for his crimes. Mitigate the damage. Find meaning in their and his own suffering. He died trying, aiming to take his whole family out with him. Will just showed up early enough to save Abigail from the same fate.

“You shouldn’t have gone through any of this. A family is the highest type of bond there is” at least that’s what it should be, he supposed. He didn’t luck out on that account either. “Still, knowing the damage he caused you, it also killed me a bit to take him away like that. After feeling him inside my head, knowing his despair. It took a toll on me, like it always does. It’s why I tried to stay away too. I felt like you had enough personal issues to spare, didn’t need to include mine on the pile.” He finished sardonically, awkwardly regretting how much he had revealed of himself.

“I should have just killed him. Saved myself and him from his misery. Saved you some grievance too on the side.” He heard the strain on her voice brought on by this façade, but he let it go. The kid had every right to be pissed.

She deflated a little bit, losing her bravado. “I thought- when you stopped visiting me-I thought perhaps you didn’t want to get attached. To me.”

Well. Too late for that. He scratched his cheek, but there was no turning back now. “You were not wrong.” He muttered at length. “I tend to get attached, it’s a side-effect of being me. Which is why I try to move on, keep my distance. It’s not good for anybody involved, me included.” He looked down with the excuse that the setting sun was blinding him. He gulped dry and went through with it. Said what needed to be said. “My caring is not your problem, though, Abigail. I am perfectly happy to see you thrive from afar.”

This was good, this is what he needed. He nodded to himself. A touch of closure with Abigail and this case. Recognize that he’d done good, that she might actually be better off because of his intervention. A job well done, pat on his back. Resume his life as a beta, free of attachments.

Abigail deliberated, fidgeting with a strand of her auburn hair. Finally, she nodded to herself seeming to make up her mind. “What if I wanted it to be my problem?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. What if I wanted it to be my problem? You might want to deprive yourself from the people you like, Will, but I don’t suffer from that issue.”

“-Abigail-“

You can’t just _do that_ , can you? Someone can’t just decide they want you in their life and leave you with no say about it? He was used to people deciding on abandonment, not the opposite.

“I think you need a friend, Will. You don’t seem to have an awful lot of those.” She was smirking at him, like she knew she got him hooked. “And right now, I don’t have a lot of those either.”

Simple as that.

She grabbed the fly that he was still carrying from his hand. He felt blindsided by the sudden insertion of herself in his life, but he was coming up short with more elaborate ways to refuse her. He was coming up short with reasons of why he should do that at all.

Still examining the fly, she started moving in the direction of his house.

“So, will you teach me how to tie a fly? I think I’m done with hunting. Might as well pick up some fishing while I am at it.”

He smiled down at his feet, oddly touched by her request. It felt like giving in, but then again, what the hell was he fighting against?

She smiled winningly at him. He followed her home.


	3. Between Desire and Morality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been really excited about posting this chapter because   
> a) It’s the first big interaction between Will and Hanni <3 and   
> b) It was my first attempt at weaving parallel themes into the storyline to shape up the narrative.
> 
> Now, I have absolutely no background whatsoever in Philosophy, but I _am_ a researcher, so it was lots of fun digging such themes up to entangle with my story :D
> 
> Comments are crack and I am an addict! Thank you for your kind support and enthusiam, I hope you guys are having fun! (:

Will found himself once again facing a door with indecision, debating the pros and cons of simply walking away. He knew about Dr. Lecter’s 24-hour cancelation policy but, damn. If he came across as being rude, so let him be rude. It would work in his favor, actually. A pissed off psychiatrist was a psychiatrist that would leave him alone. That he coincided to be an alpha was just the cherry on top. He got up from his armchair and made to discreetly leave the waiting room before his presence was acknowledged.

“Good evening, Will. Please, come in.” Will flinched.  _ Fuck _ . He hesitated before turning towards him. Hannibal was poised as elegantly as ever. One hand braced on the doorframe, the other welcoming him in, a serene smile on his face. He didn’t seem to pass any judgement to the fact that Will was surely poised to flee. 

Will focused on the subtle floral pattern of his burgundy three-piece suit, avoiding eye contact. “Thank you, Dr. Lecter”. He exhaled slowly, acquiescing his defeat. Will tried to rationalize it. He’d dealt with Dr. Lecter’s kind before and sure enough, no psychiatrist was ever able to navigate the boisterous maze that was his mind so far. This could be harmless. Somewhat mollified by this thought he stepped inside. 

  
  
  


“From my recently conceived, albeit careful perspective of you and how others perceive you, it appears you are graced with an empathy disorder.”

Sure. If that was the thing to capture his imagination, then by all means, Doctor,  _ proceed _ . Being perceived as an empathetic beta was a great cover up for his omegan disposition. It didn’t slip his attention, however, the fact that Hannibal was  _ talking  _ to people about him. That was unnerving. He would have to give Alana a piece of his mind.

“You assume the point of view of others so thoroughly and dexterously that the you that remains might exist completely side-stage to the one you are engaging with.” Hannibal proceeded, undisturbed by his silence. “Temporarily, indeed. But intensely, is it not?” His searching eyes met Will’s startled ones, along with his stunned silence.

“And yet, I believe you to be unaccustomed to consciously dealing with the aftermath of such empathy.” Hannibal stretched forward on his chair, hands clasped over his knees, staring intently at Will. “Tell me. Once your mind is under siege, and you are left stumbling through the debris of what used to be sanctuary, how do you differentiate between the pieces that are you and the pieces of another?

_ Fuck. _ Not so harmless after all.

Will seethed at this. “I  _ am _ still  _ me _ .” Anything else was unthinkable. Too terrifying a notion to be entertained. “I don’t welcome these people in my mind--murderers and criminals with a blank pass for eternity. Just because I can relate to them, doesn’t mean I  _ become _ them. I am not  _ pathological _ .” He hissed between clenched teeth. But his rage betrayed the deep dark fear that his  _ modus operandi _ was not so much a tool but a state of being. That he indeed embraced in his mind the killers that he investigated. And that every time he conceded territory in his psyche to solve crimes, he, in the process, lost just a bit of what constituted himself, his mind. 

There was only so much of himself he could afford to give.

Will was even more aggravated by the fact that some virtual stranger was able to tell his darkest fears so effortlessly. “Is that what you think of me? That I am just this-this blank canvas? Easily compelled by whichever notion yet another mind throws my way?” He expelled a harsh breath and licked his lips, distressed by the suggestion. He always fought so hard to know who he was whilst still hiding behind a beta mask. It was a constant balance between what he knew he was and how he presented himself to the outside. But perhaps-Will thought unnerved- perhaps he spent too much time focusing on his presentation and not enough on his identity.

Hannibal might actually be right.

Hannibal for his part seemed delighted by the internal conflict his words appeared to be having on Will. “You are an amalgamation of beings.” Hannibal articulated almost wonderingly. “I believe everything you see touches your mind, reconfigures your way of thinking. I believe you not to be solely the sum of parts but a synergic coaction of everyone your mind has connected with.” He expressed this whilst moving forwards on his chair, as if agitated by such notion. “We are what we experience, Will. What we feel, touch, hear. Few, however, are able to go beyond the realm of their own possibilities and expand on the experience of others. Embrace. Evolve. Become.” 

Will felt suddenly overwhelmed by the emotion he could hear in Hannibal’s voice. He briskly stood up from the chair he was occupying, the one that faced Hannibal directly, and started pacing the room for some breathing space. The office was wide, spacious, with a mezzanine home to an extensive library overlooking the floor below. The décor was exquisite, with lush curtains cradling ceiling high windows that softly illuminated the room with moonlight. He stood in front of them gazing at his reflection, trying to conjure up the words that were lodged inside his throat. 

“It’s like-to fully understand their motivations, their desires I have to open myself unconditionally. No room in my mind for judgement or aggravation. I just am, and they just are until I can thoroughly  _ see _ them. And that is a state in which my eyes are no longer…clouded by morality. I see beauty.” He spitted out like poison, ashamed of himself, observing his rattled features reflected by the window.

Hannibal’s voice came smoothly from the desk where he was now distractedly touching drawings that were set on top of it. Will hadn’t noticed he also was moving around the room. “Empathy comes from understanding. Fear comes from ignorance. One cannot truly love someone unless they can comprehend them profoundly. Likewise, deep and true understanding often begets compassion. Begets—adoration.”

Will turned abruptly to look at Hannibal just to see he was already staring back with dark, bottomless eyes, searching for his reaction. He felt bewildered by the declaration. He refused to dig further into any subliminal meaning, to give voice to this terrible part of him. And yet it was a heady feeling to just be  _ seen _ . He whispered, trembling “ _ And if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you _ .”

A confession of sorts.

The silence between them was endless, intersected only by Will’s heavy anguished breaths. Hannibal turned back to his drawings, finally releasing Will from the eye contact. He seemed to decide on one of them which he held up against the light coming from the fire in the hearth, contemplatively. Will started to move again, away from the window and wandering closer to Hannibal’s desk and the fireplace. With a quick and inquisitive look to Hannibal’s broad back he started shuffling through his drawings, curious of what a man like him might draw about. 

“Are you familiar with Kant’s  _ Critique of Judgment _ , Will?” Will stopped and looked up, confused by the apparent non-sequitur. He abandoned his exploration of Hannibal’s drawings and came to stand next to the man himself, facing the fire dancing warmly and languorously in front of them. The drawing Hannibal had in hands was a rendition of Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son. The Titan’s madness was plainly visible in his eyes, primal and grotesque. It was beautiful.

“Something about beauty and morality, I believe?”

Hannibal hummed, pleased. “In the  _ Republic _ , Plato was one of the first to raise concerns about portraying acts of God, that often include depictions of violence such as this one,” he brandished the drawing of Saturn still in his hand in acknowledgement “in fear it might affect the commoners’ sense of morality. It worried him that art illustrating immoral acts done by beings which we aim to emulate might be severely detrimental to the moral of the people. If godliness is propriety and godliness is to be pursued, then godliness should be portrayed in art for reference. Yet, if we imbue an aesthetic value in all that is art, no matter how brutal or violent such art is, might not the value of beauty corrupt our value of morality? It was, I believe, one of the first philosophical debates of ethics and aesthetics.”

Will mulled this over, not quite sure about the direction the conversation was going. “Both ethics and aesthetics are forms of value-“ he began hesitantly, peering at Hannibal for validation “-and yet we fear what happens when we can’t differentiate them in our judgement. When they weigh in with proportional value.” He finished cautiously, re-evaluating everything that had been said between them so far.

Hannibal looked utterly charmed by the conclusions Will seemed to reach on his own. He put his hands in the pockets of his slacks and propped himself on the edge of the desk facing the fireplace, unfolding his long legs elegantly in front of him.

“Kant defines beauty as being judged through an aesthetic experience of taste. This experience must be devoid of any concept, emotion or interest in the object we are ascribing as beautiful. Most of all, the experience of beauty is something to be felt. In his critique, he tries to dissociate what is beautiful from other concepts such as what is perceived as agreeable and what is perceived as good.”

Hannibal powers on with his discourse, eyes alight, dancing with the reflection of the flames. Will stared wonderingly at him. “Kant believed that agreeableness is linked to desire, hunger or lust. Goodness reflects our sense of moral judgment, the ethical value that ever permeates our assessment and beliefs. Beauty on the other hand is free of these ties and therefore is more pure -- it stands unaffected by such mundane values. It’s a higher concept that lies between our desires and our morality.”

He turned to face Will at last, the fire seemingly captured inside his dark eyes. “You may doubt the morality of what strange, dark images dance around your mind, Will. You might even question whether you hunger or not for them, how agreeable they are to your psyche. But never,  _ ever _ , Will, question the beauty of them.”

Hannibal stretched his hand to offer Will his drawing. He picked it up shakily, with reverence. Once secured, Hannibal stood up and slowly headed back to his chair, leaving Will completely raw and gutted in his wake.

  
  
  


When Will at last returned to Wolf Trap it was late and he was famished. He let the dogs out while he scavenged his cupboards after supplies for a tuna sandwich. He ate hurriedly, standing up next to the sink looking around his empty house. To the left he saw his working bench with his fishing supplies and half-finished flies. He saw Abigail’s ghost there, eyebrows screwed tight in concentration while she looked through the magnifying glass. She would be trying so hard to do the Davy Knot just like he taught her: down, up, over, down and up again. Draw the knot first, close and tight and then set it in place. Her laughter echoing through the room while he grumbled that no, they can’t just order a bunch of readymade flies from Amazon,  _ Jesus Christ _ . She would laugh and laugh but then she would focus and try again.

He looked to the right and saw the piano that even though hadn’t been tuned in ages, still sounded half decent. He saw Abigail’s ghost there as well, trying to learn something easy, something Will knew how to play too. “I only know  _ Chopsticks _ ” she would say laughing embarrassed, pointer fingers ready. He would chuckle, setting down on the bench next to her, picking his brain for something suitable. They would settle for Musette in D Major, perhaps. At least the dumbed down version of Musette he was able to perform. She would groan and suffer, complaining all the way through. Say Hannibal was eager to teach her, but she was scared he would whip out the metronome and start rhapsodizing over music theory and the proper dynamic of classical learning and—his brain screeched into a halt. He gulped down his iced tea hurriedly, distressed. That way lies madness. There was no good that could come from entertaining such thoughts. Worst of all, with the sudden flash of  _ Hannibal _ enacting on them. He didn’t want this, definitely didn’t  _ need _ this in his life. His subconscious needed to shut the fuck up.

He put the dishes on the sink and whistled for the dogs to come back, hearing their barks in the distance. The drawing Hannibal gave to him sat on his kitchen counter, still as striking now as it was in the warm light of his office. Will closed his eyes, exhaled slowly, cleared his mind and when he opened them again the ghost of Garret Jacob Hobbs was sitting next to him. They contemplated the drawing together. 


	4. Certified Bachelor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello beautiful people! How are we feeling? Let’s kick it up a notch and add some plot to this fic, shall we?
> 
> (There's some gruesome imagery on this chapter, though nothing worse than what we see on the show. But still, proceed with caution, ok?)
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this! See you next week!

The photo being displayed by the projector on the amphitheater wall was not a particularly gruesome one, but it made an impact. Will looked up at it from his place center stage and let the weight of the imagery set down upon his students. It was a dining room, suburban and elegant with large windows and cream, heavy curtains. Mirrors on the walls and a nice dining table that sat eight people. Yet, only the place at the head of the table was set for dinner. Displayed at the core of this tableau was the body of a nicely dressed alpha looking down the dinner table, imposingly. The first glimpse of the killer’s M.O. were the eyes that had been ripped off the sockets, leaving only gory bloodied holes behind. The second glimpse was the cavity left in the chest from where the heart had been taken out. Both _post-mortem_. The body was displayed gazing slightly down, cutlery in hands, appearing eager to eat what was being served in a lavish golden plate in front of him. The ornate plate contained human offal, that although looked undiscernible, being halfway to a state of putrefaction, Will knew to be a uterus. It’s owner, the alpha’s wife, was not present in the scene apart from her organs being served as a main course. Her body had been found buried peacefully in their backyard, not a part of the tableau, _per se_. She was a mere casualty. A hindrance between the killer and their intended victim.

“Both alpha and the woman display traces of acute poisoning in their bodies. Interestingly, each victim received a different pharmacological treatment. Residual toxic levels of pentobarbital were found in the woman’s body and uterus served in the plate, in high enough concentrations to kill her. But this was not the M.O. for the alpha. He presented therapeutic levels of succinylcholine, a neuromuscular blocking agent, on his blood. Just enough to paralyze him, not enough to kill. The flair for the dramatics of this killer’s M.O shows up in the drink he chose to serve the alpha alongside their mate’s innards. Elderberry wine. Though it was not laced with arsenic, like in Capra’s Arsenic and Old Lace, perhaps for the impracticality that is arsenic poisoning. We call him The Omega Widow.” He looked around at the sound of their amused whispers, annoyed by their patronizing tone. They often had a hard time relating to any killer that wasn’t an alpha. Couldn’t comprehend any motivation that wasn’t driven by rage, lust or peacocking. Will took off his glasses to rub his fingers over his tired eyes. When he put them back on again, he noticed Alana standing at the edge of his vision all the way to the back, near the exit doors. He needed a minute to center himself in order to refocus on his presentation. “There are no signs of forced entry, no abrasions resultant of struggle. So how does he kill them?”

Hands rose up instantly.

“More importantly, what's the meaning behind his method of killing? What attracts him to his victims? Why are they so vulnerable to his intervention?”

All hands dropped down, hesitation in the air. Will smirked cruelly.

“I want two thousand words on this profile. What drives this omega to kill? What does his choice of victims _mean_? What is his design? On my desk, next week. Think omega, not alpha. Try and broaden your horizons a little. And please, don’t bore me.”

He turned around to gather his belongings on his desk while the students left the auditorium. He could feel Alana’s gaze like a physical force but didn’t turn to face her.

“Cutting a bit too close to home, aren’t we?” They were alone now. She smirked.

He huffed, flustered. As much as he presented as a beta, he felt it was his duty as an omega to show his students all the broad spectrum of killers they might encounter. If not him who else would even bother, Will thought spitefully. Omegas were seen by society as fragile and inept creatures. This concept was commonly shared between criminal profilers as well. Most professors didn’t bother studying omega serial killers at all, were actually amused by the idea of it. Well. Here they were now, struggling to catch The Omega Widow. This was his third kill and he didn’t seem intent on stopping anytime soon. More minds needed to be involved in trying to figure out what spurned this killer on. A hands-on approach for all these skeptics, Jack Crawford included. Will felt a swirl of dark amusement in witnessing their struggle. 

“These knuckle heads should have a broader sense of how all dynamics operate. Murder is not an all alpha business. They are so biased they wouldn’t entertain the possibility of an omega killer if one held a knife to their throats.”

“They would probably think it is some strange type of omega courtship.” Alana replied cheekily.

“And so, my point is made,” he sighed and leaned back on his desk, shaking his head ruefully. “Hi, Alana. What are you doing here?”

“I brought lunch,” she produced a bag from behind her “We haven’t talked in a while. Figured we could chat a bit while we eat.”

Will raised an eyebrow at her.

“And maybe we could discuss Abigail’s disappearances with my car once a week for the past month? And perhaps how I believe this to be linked to some paternal instinct she seems to have brought out on you? You know. Casual conversation.”

 _Ah_. There it was. Will didn’t think Abigail’s visits would go unnoticed for long.

He acquiesced meekly. He pointed to the bag of food in her clutch “Is that from Nick’s?” His stomach growled.

She smiled knowingly. “Sure is. And yes,” she interrupted when he opened his mouth “I brought those weird crab pretzels that you like. I am not an _amateur_.”

He beamed at her gratefully and grabbed his suitcase. They bumped shoulders together while they left the room and Will felt warm.

They had been eating in companionable silence for a while now which made Will think this peace wouldn’t last for long. They were crammed together in a little corner in the cafeteria that had wide windows which overlooked the lake. At this time, the cafeteria was mostly empty, save for the random coffee addict rushing in or out of some classroom. She had finished her meal already and was idly fiddling with the wrappings of the side portions while she waited for him to catch up. Being with Alana was easy, they knew each other too well. But because they knew each other so well, Will could not ignore her pressing need to interrogate him that was written all over her face. He wondered, though, what would her angle be. He gulped down the last of his water and signaled for her to begin. Didn’t take too long to figure what her angle was.

"I had a beer with Hannibal last week. I mean. He had wine. I had this hand-crafted beer of his, he says it's my own personal brew. Damn good beer." She stalled a bit, waiting for his reaction. When none came forward, she continued. "He told me Abigail helped him with the last brew. Even though she is not allowed to drink yet. It’s good for her. Manual labor to focus her attention. You and Hannibal appear to be of the same mind about such approach, interestingly enough."

Will huffed, displeased. She was baiting him.

"Do you think it’s wise? Exposing her to an alpha so soon?"

"Hannibal is good for her. And apparently, she is good for him too. In all those years I’ve known him, I have never seen so invested in the welfare of _others_."

The emphasis on the word _others_ didn’t go unnoticed by him. Others, plural? "What are you implying?" He asked hesitantly.

She smirked and leaned forwards, clearly glad to have caught his attention. "Oh yes. It’s not only Abigail occupying his mind as of late. He seems awfully keen knowing more about you too."

 _Fucking great,_ he was right. They _had_ been talking about him.

"Interrogated me, really" she continued "Or what might translate to crude interrogation in a less refined man. But we had dinner together and delightful conversation while I sipped my very own beer. That the topic of conversation was mainly you, well. I noticed mostly because of how careful I am about revealing too much about you."

Will promptly flushed and spluttered, not knowing what to do with this information. That Hannibal seemed invested during their session was one thing since his job was to understand Will's psyche in order to better help him. But this curiosity outside the boundaries of his office was alarming. Searching him in the dark, coaxing bits of knowledge, coming closer and closer still. _Fuck._ It filled Will with consuming heat that he struggled to ignore.

He tried to focus on what really mattered. "Tell me you didn't bring any attention to my being an omega, Alana, please-"

"Of course not, Will. You know I wouldn’t" She looked somewhat offended. Still, her voice softened "My goal is to keep you safe, you know that. And if maintaining your beta status keeps you safe, then I would never infringe upon that."

Will couldn’t bring himself to tell her that Abigail knew. It would only cause her anguish, thinking that she had failed him. Besides, all of this didn’t seem to hinder his relationship with Abigail. Quite the opposite, considering how they had bonded so far. 

But it felt like his secrets were closing in and would catch up to him anytime now. What really troubled him was the idea of this target on his back, of Hannibal _talking_ about him. He was an omega who faked being a beta for a living. Attracting the interest of an alpha was not ranked high in his list of priorities right now.

Still. If Hannibal was out there asking questions about him, he shouldn’t mind being offered the same treatment, right? "Why hasn’t Hannibal-? I mean. You know."

"What?"

"Has he ever mated with someone? Had a family of his own? Fancy alpha like him."

"Oh. Hmm. No. Not that I am aware of, at least." Alana twirled a strand of her hair in thought. "His personal life before coming to the States is a bit murky to me. Ever since I met him, though, he remained mateless. Eligible bachelor, attracting whispers and long looks from the whole of the faculty. During my academic years being supervised by him, it felt like I had two functions: working on my thesis and lending my ear to the newest person who fancied him. I witnessed my good share of women and omegas throwing themselves at him. I had a front row seat to a lot of disappointment." She laughed slightly as she strolled through her memory lane.

Will could picture all of it in the theater of his mind. Grad students gossiping about what a catch Doctor Hannibal Lecter was. So handsome, so well accomplished and _so_. _incomprehensibly_. _single_. Maybe even Alana might have flirted with the idea. Under his tutorship, bright eyed and overwhelmed by the faculty’s very best brawns and brains combo. Alphas like Hannibal didn’t stay unmated for quite so long. His availability would intrigue and fascinate even the least gossipy of people.

"Yeah, but he always seemed completely aloof, borderline detached from this construct of society." She stabbed the remains of her salad a bit forcefully, eyebrows lightly knitted in confusion. Will wondered if he was dead on with his assessment that she had harbored interest for Hannibal at some point in time. "It always seemed to me that having a nuclear family was completely outside of his radar."

She shrugged and looked outside. Will regretted broaching the subject of Hannibal now. Curiosity killed the cat and made Will even more uncomfortable with Doctor Certified Bachelor's sudden attention.

A couple of minutes passed, and Will became cautiously hopeful that this conversation might actually not include an interrogation about Abigail. Alana looked back at him and it felt like she could just read his mind. Not a far-fetched notion, really.

“Abigail has been really excited about learning to play the piano. We dug up the old keyboard that I had up in my attic. Between you and Hannibal, I wouldn’t be surprised if she went pro soon enough.” She spoke this lightly, but was betrayed by the intensity of her stare.

 _Oh._ That. Will caught himself pleasantly surprised every time Abigail showed up at his place. They actually did end up playing the piano sometimes. But not Musette, no. She was adamant that she wanted to have at least _some fun_ and play music she actually listened to. Brought chord sheets with her and everything. Some post-rock band he never heard of. Will grumbled about it, but really, he would be glad to listen to way worse things to see her happy. Will wondered if Hannibal felt the same way about her.

"Oh, far from it. She milked me dry of all my knowledge by our second lesson. I told Abigail she will have to count on someone more skilled if she really hopes to learn something properly."

"It sure seems like she keeps finding reasons to come back, though."

Will sighed, at loss for words. It was a question he kept wondering about himself. Why Abigail always came back to him. More than a month later and he still came up empty.

"Well. I do teach her how to fish, too."

"Will-"

"What?" He shot back feeling itchy and agitated "I told her since the beginning she shouldn’t get attached to me. She knows better. I am just a crutch until she gets back on her feet and I'm fine with it. Don’t make this bigger than it is."

"Will, I don’t believe this is her perspective on things at all. She cares about you, sees you as a long-term friend. She seems quite invested in maintaining a relationship with you."

Will sucked his teeth, avoiding her gaze. "Well, that’s not on the table, so." He swirled the straw inside his drink and broached the subject he'd been avoiding for a while. "How are things looking up for her adoption? Got some candidates already? You have to make sure you screen them right. Case like hers attracts all sorts of weirdos."

"We have received some applications, yes." She said slowly, eyes searching his. "In fact. We were thinking about discussing her options at dinner on Friday. You are invited."

"That’s not necessary, I-"

"Will. Come on. You should be present. You just told me I need to screen the applicants thoroughly for weirdos." She smiled lopsided at him. “Who can help me better if not my friend the criminal profiler?”

Hell. He wasn’t winning any today, was he? "Fine. I can help in whatever capacity you need me to. I want what's best for her too."

"Great! Dinner will be at Hannibal's at 7pm. He offered to cook!"

Wait.

She got up and started towards the exit, clearly taking advantage of his inability to speak.

Did he agree to have dinner at Hannibal’s? Again?

"Don’t be late!" She waved at him and quickly disappeared before he managed to get a grasp at words and talk his way out of this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *You have no idea how long it took me to design the pharmacology of this killer’s M.O. oh my god. I wanted so bad to make him kill with Elderberry Wine laced with arsenic like they do in the movie. But arsenic is mainly a chronic poisoning agent, acute poisoning is really an unlikely scenario. And then there was the act of actually making the victim drink this volume of poison without noticing the side effects. Alas. Not happening, as much as I tried. So I had to adapt ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ *
> 
> *The post-rock band is Sigur Rós because it's my fav and I want to learn Sæglópur on the piano real bad*
> 
> *I don't know if it's weird to adopt Abigail given that she can be 18, 19 here. But this is omegaverse ok guys, heats happen and family is important. Suspend your disbelief for me, will you?*


	5. Death of the Ego

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you!
> 
> First, I just wanted to self-promote a little bit: I submitted a short fic for #BottomHanniBonanza and it won 1st place! It’s this one: 
> 
> [**Benediction**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26505460) (2784 words) by [**anticholinesterase**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anticholinesterase)  
>  Summary: Hannibal had left his human suit behind him and, with it, the imago of Will’s god-like potential. Yet, godliness had a way to find him.  
>    
> So check it out if you like my writing and wanna see some Hannigram smut for a change (I know I am taking the concept of slow burn quite literally with this one guys, I’m sorry, but we are getting there!)
> 
> Without further ado, here’s Will Graham in uncomfortable situations once again! Enjoy!

It was Friday night and Will was in his car in the vicinity of Hannibal's residence, and this time he was not late. He could not bring himself to be, actually. Too anxious. Two hours ago, he had found himself pacing around his living room, looking for something to fix, something out of place but everything was in perfect condition, as if in mockery of his jittery state. He didn’t know what to do with his hands. His dogs were well taken care of. He had let them out already, running in circles with Buster to exhaust some energy, throwing the ball for Winston to catch. The pack seemed to feel his restlessness, ribbing him up and spurring him on with a rough and tumble play for which he was grateful. That was two hours ago, though. Now he was parallel parking on Hannibal's street. Just as anxious as before.

But he didn’t even try to skip it. And he was right on time _alright, Alana?_

Across the park there was a couple walking peacefully with a baby stroller, the omega heavily pregnant. The alpha stopped them next to a bench to sit down and coo at the toddler sitting inside the stroller. The omega observed the interaction with a soft smile, rubbing his belly absent mindedly. Picture perfect families on this neighborhood, just like Will had imagined.

He wondered whether this kind of neighborhood accommodated broken families of any kind. Families that were not meant to be. Families that regretted their kin. Or if, perhaps, there were any families coming together for the first time. People that never knew they could mean something to someone else, until inexplicably, they did. Found families, what a concept. He gulped down his feelings and shook his head.

Abigail was sitting on the upmost step leading up to Hannibal’s porch, feet on the step below her. She was smoking, something Will had never witnessed her doing before. A habit brought out by nervousness, then.

"I didn’t know you smoked."

She quirked an eyebrow at him and blew out the smoke, scooting to the side to make place for him next to her. "Oh, I don’t. At least that's what you are going to tell Hannibal when he asks about it." She noticed his confused bemusement and continued, embarrassed "He is trying to make me quit. Says there are plenty of other pharmaceuticals, including anxiolytics, he can prescribe to me that don’t require my lungs being tarred black with benzene."

Will didn’t know what surprised him the most: that Abigail seemed as anxious as he felt right now or that apparently she and Hannibal were already so close that he felt entitled to interfere with her health. Will let himself feel unjustly jealous for a split second. And then he felt ashamed of himself for even thinking such a thing.

"Can't argue with that. There are plenty of other drugs with far less cancerous excipients. You should follow his advice and pick better options."

Abigail scrunched up her nose as she put the cigarette out on the side of the step. "I was reading about psychedelics these days. How they can affect the way we think, our mood. There are some studies saying they could even be used to treat depression, did you know that?"

"Is that so?"

"Yup. Have you ever heard about the death of the ego?"

He had, in fact, but he was interested in seeing where she was going with this.

"It's something that can happen to someone under the influence of psychedelics, whether they intend it to be of therapeutic value or not. It's supposed to be a change of consciousness that can facilitate insight."

"And insight can be something quite hard to achieve on our own without a little help. Pharmacological or otherwise."

Abigail hummed an agreeing sound. She was dragging her finger in small patterns across the wood floor of the step, distractedly. "It's something widely reported by users of hallucinogens like LSD or Ayahuasca. The term ego death comes from a feeling of separation between the person's mind and their body. But the event that apparently could be therapeutical comes after this, it's called the Rebirth. It's a return to the normal, conscious mind. It's said to cause a tremendous sense of relief, that can be really cathartic."

"This comes up in Jungian psychology too, but the term they use is psychic death "Will added, remembering the basics of Psychology he had learned way back in Criminology. "They refer to it as a fundamental transformation of the psyche. This whole transformation is based on the archetype of death and rebirth, in which the "false self" is surrendered and the "true self" emerges.” He hummed and intoned something he had heard before, a Buddhist teaching, if he remembered correctly “ _When consciousness stops trying to catch its own tail, I become nothing, and discover that I am everything_.”

Abigail was observing him thoughtfully now, cheek pressed to her raised knee. She caught his eyes and shrugged “It’s just biochemistry really. Molecule binds itself to receptor A. Downregulates receptor B. And our minds just translate this to a rearrangement of the soul or something.”

Will chuckled with her but couldn’t disagree. The mind was a powerful thing but oh so vulnerable to external stimuli. He knew this intimately.

“It’s exciting though, isn’t?”

“What?” He asked, distracted. There was not much to be excited about pharmacodynamics, after all.

“Change? It’s always a huge leap, makes your stomach drop like in a rollercoaster. But it can also lead to something unexpected. Something good, I think.”

She nodded to herself as if coming to a conclusion and Will dreaded this dinner, their imminent conversations and whoever thought it was a good idea for him to keep letting people in. Because people that are let in, might just as well walk away.

Abigail got up, stepped on her cigarette winking at him and went back inside leaving the door open behind her.

“Will, how is the investigation going on with that Omega Widow so far? Have you managed to create a full profile already?”

Alana, as per usual, had been conducting the conversation that tended to turn stifled and unforthcoming at times. She truly was a saint and Will felt bad about putting her in this cajoling position when all she wanted to do was help those around her. They were in Hannibal’s study, having drinks while the main dish, a fish soup of some kind, simmered away in the kitchen. Alana and Abigail sat together in a loveseat, looking like they were trying their best to keep everybody engaged in conversation. Will kept pacing around the room, the collective nervous energy adding to his own. Hannibal sat languidly in an armchair, drink in hands, following Will with his eyes.

They hadn’t breached the subject of Abigail’s adoption so far and it felt like the pink elephant in the room. If the conversation felt stifled it was because Will couldn’t help but feeling unmoored and stifled himself.

He felt all eyes turning to him and steeled himself, turning around from the set of books in the bookshelf he had been admiring to face them. “Oh, uhm. Somewhat, yes. We know he targets alphas. Well-off, successful alphas and all of them mated so far. We had two women and a beta killed alongside their mates. And while these mates participate in the scene, they don’t seem to be the target of our killer.”

"How do you know that?" Abigail asked quietly, with polite interest.

"He kills them mercifully" Will recalled wistfully, watching the scene unfold in his mind "With an overdose of pentobarbital. They don’t even know they are dying. He doesn’t need them to. He lays their bodies peacefully on the ground, pays his respects, takes only what he needs from them. The alpha is the one he sits down and serves the meal to. The one he has an agenda with."

"Pray tell Will. What drives an omega such as this one to kill?" Hannibal inquired with that glint in his eyes that always made Will shiver.

Will had an uneasy feeling that he was being tested. It made him feel defensive, trapped. "Well, you are the psychiatrist, _Dr. Lecter_ , you tell me" he huffed, but continued "Omegas are not these fragile, incapable things that society paints them to be. They can be just as diverse and willful and prone to acts of violence as the next alpha” Will barely managed not to slip and say _we_ instead of _they_. What was it about Hannibal that riled him up this much? He looked at Hannibal’s expression and saw that riling him up seemed to be exactly what he was aiming for. “But you already knew that."

Hannibal turned his head sideways inquisitively and gave him a mischievous smile "Absolutely. Caring and protecting their loved ones is a deeply ingrained human condition. Omegas, dare I say, suffer from such condition perhaps even more fiercely than most of us. But that's a crude generalization, obviously. While there’s no denying most of us would protect what we love, it takes a special kind of person to land themselves in the clue board of a FBI Profiler by doing so, does it not?” A moment of silence while Hannibal stirred his glass of wine around, apparently caught in how the light from the fireplace refracted through it. “That’s what ultimately fascinates me. What kind of desire is so deeply rooted in an omega that takes him beyond the realm of normal behavior and drives him to broadcast his will through murder?"

Will licked his lips, feeling a little frantic but trying to keep it down. Because he knew this omega already. He was familiar with his mind set, could feel his desires as intimately as if they were his own "He wants what was taken from him. Opportunity. To be loved. To be accepted for who he is. He won't rest until he finds an alpha who he can see eye to eye with."

Tension rose between them as they made eye contact, Will not wanting to back down from this stand-off. Subservience was an omegan trait and Will was feeling too vulnerable already to fall back into such a telling behavior of his true nature.

"That doesn’t seem like an easy trail to follow in order to apprehend him" Alana made herself known, breaking the spell between them.

Will cleared his throat and nodded hurriedly. "It hasn’t been, no. While we know this omega wants to be seen, it's been hard to identify by whose eyes. Until it's too late."

Abigail shifted in her seat “It’s never easy to know which eyes have the capacity to see us best.”

Hannibal turned to her, a proud little smile crinkling the edges of his eyes “Or how confident we are that they are the one who will truly see us.” They looked at each other and had a private conversation with their eyes that Will, hurt and a bit jealous, was not able to catch. “Abigail, will you help me in the kitchen? I believe our dinner is ready.”

“This is delicious, Hannibal! I’ve never had something similar before. Is it a…chowder?” Alana inquired warmly, spooning the creamy, flavorful sauce around and mixing it with the white rice served on the side.

“ _Moqueca_ is a traditional Brazilian fish stew, quite common in their northeast coast, I believe. It is made with white, mild flavored fish, onions, garlic, bell peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, and coconut milk. The trick is the layering of the ingredients inside the pan so that while the stew simmers the tomatoes caramelize and develop in a quite layered flavor, typical of Brazilian cuisine.”

“It’s amazing!” Abigail complimented with enthusiasm “What kind of fish did you use?”

“Blue Catfish” Will answered promptly before Hannibal could. Will didn’t know much, but he was well versed in the variety of fish Virginia and Maryland had to deliver “Makes sense for a stew that calls for a mild flavored fish. I imagine it lives up to the original recipe. This is really good, Hannibal.”

Hannibal preened at the compliment. “The original commonly utilizes dogfish or halibut, but to make do with fresh fish here in Baltimore, we have to adapt to our locals. I assumed Blue Catfish would fit nicely amongst the other ingredients. I had a disagreement with a fisherman who tried to deceive me and sell me American Shad. I would have none of it, of course. But it can be quite taxing to achieve something as simple as finding reliable fish sources in this city.”

Will noticed Abigail sneaking glances between them before she built up the courage to speak “You know, Will and I have been having quite some luck with fishing these days. I am sure we could bring you some fresh, reliable fish. Couldn’t we, Will?”

“We do have some Blue Catfish in the Wolf Trap area, yes.” Will admitted mildly, deflecting.

Hannibal smiled at him “I just might come with you next time, then. I would love to tend to the fish as soon as they are caught. And the fruit of our labor could render us a nice meal together once more.”

Abigail dimpled at both of them looking very much satisfied with herself. Will couldn’t believe how easily she seemed to be able to manipulate him to do what she wanted “That sounds like a plan! Right, Will?”

“Right” He scratched his nose and laughed self-deprecatingly “We just have to figure out how to fit all these outings in the life you’ll have with your new family, that is.”

Alana looked up at this, eyes brimming with something akin to pity, which he hated. “About that, Will. There is some news about Abigail’s legal situation.”

“Oh yeah?” He busied himself with ironing the creases of the cloth napkin placed on his lap with his fingertips “That’s great. Do you have a final stance on her adoption already?”

“We do. We are finishing the paperwork as it is.”

He looked up immediately, surprised. “Alana!” He protested, rattled by the finality of her words “You told me you would ask for my opinion about the candidates first!” It was happening. Abigail was slipping through his fingers right now and though he tried to prepare, he wasn’t ready. She got in. He cared about her, she got in, she-

Hannibal interrupted his racing thoughts “Well, we could have your opinion on such matters right away.”

“What good would it make?” Will asked, defeated.

Hannibal spared Alana a glance, before looking right back at Will “Because I am the one pledging for Abigail’s adoption. And I certainly care about your opinion of me, dear Will.”

Now Will was the one smoking outside, watching the smoke swirl and dance in front of his eyes. He didn’t have the words to describe his feelings on the matter, perhaps because he was too busy denying he had feelings about such matters at all. An image crossed his mind once again, Abigail sitting at his piano, metronome imposingly in place, despite their best efforts. _One does not simply fail to comply to Hannibal’s teaching methods_ , she would say, voice booming with mocking doom. Hannibal would make her scooch to the right, show her the right fingering for this piece, would correct her wrist placement. Will’s breathing hitched with all these beautiful images that seemed closer than ever, within the grasp of his fingertips.

Deny, deny, deny.

Will had no place in this image. He was just an unstable, twitchy mess of a human being who had spent his entire adult life running away from commitment, from people who might see him for what he truly was. Worst yet, he was an omega playing pretend as a beta. Hiding in the shadows, tainted and hoping not to taint others with his ugly need for attachment. Abigail deserved someone who accepted themselves as they were, just as beautifully as she aimed to accomplish it herself. Hannibal deserved- _God_. Will didn’t even know what sort of creature would be worthy of Hannibal, but they surely wouldn’t be Will-shaped. Hannibal’s clean, mateless state wouldn’t be soiled by someone as undeserving as him. The idea was laughable, really. Will chuckled soullessly and was in the middle of creating the perfect excuse to exit Hannibal’s place as soon as possible so as to leave this mess of feelings behind when his phone vibrated inside his pocket, breaking his reverie.

He checked the caller ID before answering “Jack?”

“Will? I need you right now.” He sounded agitated in a way that could only mean fresh, disturbing murder “Are you anywhere near the Baltimore area? I will send you the address. Hurry up!”

“Jack, come on” He complained but just for show because, really, the timing could not be better “I am in the middle of dinner.”

“Hope it was more of a light supper” Jack delivered in a voice that left no room for argumentation “This one is a doozy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so I never experienced with psychedelics, but I’m quite familiar with their mechanism of action and I think they have so much interesting therapeutical potential!
> 
> Dun-dun-dun we solved the mystery of Abigail’s family! How ever may our dear Will fit in this scenario?
> 
> Dun-dun-dun we unlocked a new, mysterious murder! Place your bets on who is behind it!
> 
> And see you next week 😉


	6. Courtship (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, I just wanted to say thanks for all the support and lovely comments I’ve gotten from you so far! It has really pushed me forwards to try to write better and keep up with the schedule. Also, it warms my heart <3
> 
> Can’t believe we’re halfway done already! I will def miss this when it’s finished.
> 
> May I offer you some murder? And some feelings? And some feelings related to murder? 
> 
> (There are, once again, gory descriptions in this chapter. Proceed with caution)

Will stared absently out of the window of the taxi, chin in hands, without actually seeing anything as he approached his destination, no further than 2 miles away from Hannibal's house. The whole ordeal with the dinner announcement had come to an abrupt stop without further commentary on anyone's part. Will had Jack and this yet unidentified killer to thank for being saved by the bell. Pro: he could blame his brisk escape from awkward conversations on this brand-new corpse. Con: he couldn’t delude himself into thinking such conversations were over. Far from it. But that was a problem for his future self and Will was glad for the distraction.

He had bid Alana and Abigail farewell, polite and standoffish. He smiled demurely at Abigail and wished her all the best in this new phase of her life. She had looked at him like he might as well had slapped her in the face. Will had averted his eyes and tried not to absorb any more of her hurt feelings, lest he bled out some of his own in return. All the while he hadn’t dared to look Hannibal in the face.

The taxi took a short cut through Wyman Park. To the left Will could see the steps going up to the doric columns of Baltimore’s Museum of Art. This neighborhood looked just as distinct as Hannibal's. Family-orientated, brimming with the proper nuclear bonds of Baltimore’s high society. He got out at Hargrove Street, bid the taxi driver goodnight and went out in the direction of the lights of police cars. It was Hannibal’s fault he hadn’t driven here himself. He had been intercepted halfway to his car by a soft grasp at his elbow "I must insist, Will" Hannibal had coerced, voice gentle but firm "You have been drinking as a guest at my home. It would be abhorrent of me both personally and professionally to allow you to drive in such a state."

Will had removed himself from the gentle grasp by taking a step back and had wished Hannibal would just let him be, for a change. It felt like Hannibal was his most present whenever Will felt least resilient to him. But Hannibal had pressed on, undeterred "Allow yourself the trip to this murder scene to overcome the influence of alcohol. Afterwards, come back to me. I will greet you with a nice, strong blend of coffee to help you along. And, if you are willing, we can discuss whichever impact the vision of this killer imprints on you before you make your way back home. Please, Will, I urge you to indulge me on this. "

Will had felt too drained emotionally to deny such a request. He could only look down and nod, slowly. So, a taxi he had taken, albeit under duress.

He heard Jack's voice coming from the other side of the caution tapes circling the front yard of a nice two-story suburban house. "Took you less time than I expected to get here" He was wearing a long coat and a hat, as well as a suspicious expression on his face when he lifted up the tape for Will to pass under it "Where's your car?"

"At Hannibal's. Long story" Will sighed and shook his head trying to shake off his thoughts "Mind getting me up to speed about this one?"

“Well, that’s just it, isn’t it? We don’t know what this one is about. That’s the purpose of you.” Will just glared at him silently, too tired to mouth off.

They rounded up the house, after Jack had nodded to some clerks to let them through. They left the commotion of police officers and curious neighbors behind them and went to the back, where the dining room could be accessed through the backyard by French patio doors. 

Jack sighed and relented, sensing his mood. “At first glance it seems like the Omega Widow is at it again. But there’s more. It’s different. It might be that he is escalating." They entered the dining room together, Jack closing the French doors behind them. It immediately canceled out the noise of sirens and people talking outside and Will could breathe again, relieved. Focused on the present.

He circled the dining room, Jack following close behind and then he saw what Jack meant. _Déjà-vu._ A dining room, suburban and elegant, with a table that sat eight people. Mirrors on the walls. And a man, elegantly dressed at the end of it. Not any man, of course, but _an alpha_. Dead and poised, as if caught moments before supper. Cutlery in hands with a lavish golden plate placed in front of him. Elderberry wine on the side. He too had a hole in his chest where his heart once was.

Those were the similarities.

The whole tableau was beautifully constructed, as if coming to life from the photographs of the last cases Will had on my computer. Will could see why anyone would jump right into the conclusion of this being another Omega Widow’s case.

But then, there were the deviations.

Will approached the alpha sitting at the head of the table. His handsome face was turned slightly upwards, gazing at the other side of the room straight ahead of him. And that was deviation number one, since this alpha had managed to keep both of his eyes in his skull, in contrast to the Omega’s other victims who lacked in vision, according to his design. Will remembered, could feel it deep in his bones, the overwhelming sense of disappointment and anger that permeated the Omega’s actions in every tableau so far. This scene, Will reflected looking around intrigued, didn’t evoke these kinds of feelings at all.

But that was just a detail, really, a blip in the radar compared to the grandiosity that waited in the other side of the room. Because, if you followed the alpha’s line of sight you could see what this scene was all about. And why, while thematically similar, this crime scene was not, in fact, the making of the Omega Widow. At the other end of the dining table, looking down at the alpha there was an omega, victim number two of this murdering spree. And, clearly, what this tableau was all about.

Deviation number two.

 _Oh._ This was not caused by the Omega at all, Will thought cataloguing every detail in wonder. This was a _response_ to him.

Will circumvented the table slowly, brushing shoulders with Jack on his way, but barely noticing him. He couldn’t take his eyes off the omega mounted as if in an altar before the alpha. And suddenly everything clicked into place and the scene made itself known, materialized, whispered its secrets in Will’s ears.

This was not a mere response either. This was _courtship._

And being served in a matching golden plate in front of the omega there was a heart. The alpha’s heart. An offering. He could feel the shape and texture of this killer’s will in the air and suddenly Will felt inundated, deluged by the intensity of their feelings.

Deviation number three.

This was a love letter of devotion.

Will left a slow shuddery breath through his teeth and had to take hold of the chair’s upholstery to catch himself from the intensity of it. He closed his eyes. There were tones and undertones and if Will focused on each layer respectively he could hear each meaning more clearly. Could grasp them for what they meant. The alpha on the left. The Omega Widow. The omega on the right. An alpha? An alpha. Someone new. Someone that longed deeply, intensely.

Will felt like he was intruding into something intimate. Vulnerable, even.

“Will? Hey Will, come back” He heard Jack’s deep baritone, but the sound reached him slowly and in lower frequency, as if underwater “Tell me. What do you see?”

Will opened his eyes and backed away from the scene, resting his back on the wall looking out the French doors. The backyard. The city beyond it where, somewhere, an alpha paced impatiently waiting for the strike of the match. Having made contact. Having his message delivered and just pleading, hoping for it to take effect. To be heard.

He hugged himself, feeling small “This is not the work of the Omega Widow. In fact, it’s someone entirely new, someone who took _notice_ of the Omega Widow.” Will left out a strangled little laugh, feeling hollow inside. “I believe someone out there is willing to see eye to eye with him, after all.”

Jack didn’t seem pleased at all with this, thumping his fist to the wall next to him in a steady rhythm, clearly frustrated “And what does that mean, exactly, to us?”

Will closed his eyes and let the exhaustion take over “It means- escalation. Jack. It means this is just the beginning.”

When Will knocked once again at Hannibal's front door it was late. He ran a hand through his hair that was unruly at this time of the night, tangled curls from running his hand through them too much and checked his watch. It was a little after 11pm. He looked back over his shoulder at the taxi driving away down the street and tried to observe what Hannibal's neighborhood looked like when no one was paying attention to it. Well, mostly no one. There was still the odd one outside, smoking languidly on the bench in the park, attention elsewhere. Still, in general, the neighborhood seemed peaceful and sleepy, getting ready to call it a night. Will could relate. He looked with longing at his car parked on the other side of the street and just wished he could be home already. Away from all of this.

Hannibal opened the door promptly, a soft smile on his face, arm arching wide in welcome. "Will. I am quite relieved to see you haven’t just run off as soon as you saw opportunity. Please, do come in."

Hannibal, while still dressed nicely, Will noticed cataloguing his features, had shrugged off his suit jacket and vest, leaving him charmingly cozy in pants and a navy-blue shirt with the sleeves rolled back. Will realized he never seen him looking so bared before, so open. It suited him, just as well as his suits did.

Will shrugged out of his coat, which Hannibal promptly took, setting a warm hand on his shoulder, steading him. Will appreciated the comfort the gesture provided him. At the same time, he berated himself from getting comfort out of Hannibal. He was just tired, that’s all, and it was starting to blur the lines he had delimitated between himself and people’s influence on him. He remembered something Hannibal once said to him “ _Once your mind is under siege, and you are left stumbling through the debris of what used to be sanctuary, how do you differentiate between the pieces that are you and the pieces of another?”_ Will still didn’t have an answer for that. In fact, he believed that the lines he once thought so meticulously drawn and delimited around his mind, where now eroding around him. He never felt as susceptible as he felt right now. He needed to get a grip. Hannibal startled him out of his reverie by reaching close in order to hang his coat in place near the entryway. Something seemed to catch his attention outside, but just as quickly it was gone and he locked the door, turning back to Will. The hand, that was still on his shoulder, gave it a light squeeze before letting go.

"If you would accompany me now, Will, I will start that coffee. And I believe you would benefit from telling me what exactly you saw tonight that affected you so."

He moved past Will, brushing against him gently and moved towards the kitchen. Will breathed out slowly and braced himself for conflict. He followed.

They sat together in the study near the fireplace like they once did in Hannibal’s office, both reclining against Hannibal’s desk, arms brushing time and again with the movement of their breaths. Will looked away from the dancing fire and down to the mug of coffee being held safely between his hands.

Will could feel the tension in Hannibal’s body give, he seemed to be uncharacteristically thrumming with it, before he started to speak “I am curious, Will. Has your Omega Widow striked again?”

Will swirled his coffee slowly clockwise, then counterclockwise. “Hmmm it’s inconclusive so far. Though there are damning elements to the scene to indicate it to be an Omega’s victim, yes-” Will interrupted himself, disconcerted by how promptly he began to unconsciously lie about it. There was no reason to lie to his _therapist_ about what was disturbing him, no matter how conflicted his feelings were. About Hannibal or this killer, Will didn’t know. Either. Both. Take your pick “Actually, no. It’s not the Omega Widow, no. It’s hmm. Someone else. Someone new. A copycat, perhaps, given half of their murder scene was based off the Omega’s tableaux. Yet, there was grandiosity there that lacked in other murder scenes I’ve witnessed in a while.” In forever, Will didn’t say. It sounded too telling even in his own thoughts. How in awe he’d been rendered by it.

“Tell me more about this killer, Will.”

Will stood up and started pacing around the room like he did not long ago on their first appointment. Had that been their first session? It seemed so far away now. Will tried, and failed, to trace back to a time when Hannibal wasn’t a constant presence within his mind.

“They were able to reproduce the Omega’s design with accuracy to most details, as if they had studied it. They knew the _modus operandi_. They knew the message the omega was trying to convey. Whatever deviations were made from the original, they were consciously made choices, not mistakes.”

Will saw from the periphery of his vision Hannibal’s head turning every now and again, leisurely chasing his path with his eyes “And why, do you believe, would he deviate from the original in such manner, being him so apt in mimicking the minutia of the Omega’s killings?”

Will noticed offhandedly how Hannibal used the pronoun _he_ when Will so far had only used _they_ “This was communication. By replicating the Omega, they were not only paying homage. They were _engaging_ with him.” Will had reached the open windows, the moon bright and shining outside, illuminating the study with its glow. He turned around to look at Hannibal once again “This is someone who has a clear message in mind and the means to make themselves heard.” Someone highly intelligent, Will didn’t say. Confident. In love.

Hannibal’s eyes sparkled all the way from the fireplace, and he stood up.

“And what message could that possibly be?”

Will thought back on the tableau. The similarities. The differences. The feelings this killer left behind all over the place. Loud and clear for anyone to hear “ _I see you, omega. I can see you for who you truly are_ " Will licked his lips as he felt the killers influence beg for entry in his mind once again. Soft fingertips caressing his soul. “The other half of the tableau was its central piece. Its _raison d'être_. It was the point this new killer was trying to convey.” 

The pendulum swung back, and forwards and Will was transported to that dining room once again. He heard Hannibal’s voice from far away as if from the other side of a wheat field. Soft as a whisper in his ear “ _Tell me, Will. What do you see?”_

“The omega being posed was hanging from the ceiling, white tunic flowing and ethereal, like a deity gracing the mortal world with its presence. He had a staff in hand as if reigning the world from its rightful place up above. The staff was made out of flowers and birds and wheat, prosperity flourishing and born anew in this deity’s holy hands.”

Will only knew he was proclaiming this vision out loud because he could hear Hannibal softly, intimately responding to him from far away “ _And what does this deity represent for our killer?”_

Will closed his eyes, picturing the omega posed in all His glory “Ēostre, the goddess of fertility. Easter. It represents the opportunity for prosperity and fertility. For family.”

And the alpha sitting on the table could just gaze at him from his unassuming place below the omega. Appraisingly. Adoringly. Humbled by him and the gift this deity brought upon the world. Upon _him_. “This alpha” Will believed “is meant to be a modest representation of our new killer.”

 _“Added together, what are all these variables supposed to mean? What would you say, Will, is the bigger picture this killer deems to portray?”_ Came Hannibal’s whisper, closer than ever. Up close Hannibal smelled amazing. Something dark and woody, but also fresh like morning dew and sharp like wildberries. Masculine and intoxicating.

Will looked up startled by the weight of Hannibal’s proximity to him. He could conjure the killer’s feelings too well within him, could sense once again the depth of them. The honesty and intensity of them. And they were _beautiful_. Terrifyingly so. Will wished he wouldn’t be so affected by them but knew it to be pointless to wish so when he was in so deep. He tried to block how Hannibal's physical presence was clouding his mind and closed his eyes, letting this killer’s love pour out.

“He’s saying: _I see you, Omega. I see you for who you truly are. For what you can give. There’s no need to gouge my eyes out because with them I can see you perfectly, I can know you intimately. I can locate you anywhere._

_No need to look further anymore, Omega, because you caught me, you have me, forever. I will never let you go._

_No need to hide anymore because now that I know you, I love you. I worship you, I adore you._

_No need to be alone anymore because we have found each other. And now, nothing in the world can keep us apart_.”

Will came back to the present moment, just in time to see Hannibal swaying forwards to him as if pulled by a magnet. Hannibal’s breathing had become labored by the minute. Will was afraid to interpretate what was being broadcasted in his eyes so fiercely, perhaps because he had never seen such emotions being evoked by him before.

It was-It was desire. Deep, uncomplicated, _endless desire_. Will was frightened of its intensity.

Hannibal crowded him against the window of the study, eyes flying all over his face, a hand caressing his cheek, another on his hips and Will. Will didn’t say stop. He didn’t say don’t stop either. He could just stare back at those bottomless eyes, transfixed and utterly caught, waiting for guidance.

“Remarkable boy, how your mind works fascinates me beyond comprehension.”

“Hannibal, I-”

But he was stopped by soft lips touching his, silencing his words. Silencing his racing thoughts until it was only static echoing inside his mind.

Hannibal took a second. Two. They stood still for a moment, lips brushing each other, breathing together as one. And then, like a tidal wave, he plunged forwards, crushing mouths together, holding Will tighter to his body by the small of his back.

Will felt relief since he didn’t have to think now. He could just deliver himself to this man’s passion, to his mighty will. Will surrendered himself further, opening his mouth and welcoming Hannibal’s tongue inside his mouth sweetly, moaning softly with the intensity of it.

Hannibal seemed to go wild by the tone of his submission. The hand on Will’s waist tightened further, bringing him impossibly closer, hips knocking together, leaving no space between their bodies whatsoever. Will whimpered softly, going lax and tilting his head up, willingly. Hannibal kissed him like he was famished for it. Like Will was the one hollowing him out and nourishing him at the same measure. Like there was nothing in the world he would rather have than this moment right here, with Will. Will suckled on his tongue, while Hannibal groaned into his mouth, frantic and demanding and lost in the moment.

Will thought about the omega’s and the alpha’s gifts to each other. He thought of perfect matches.

The beauty of the omega’s plea.

The wondering depth of the alpha’s response.

How the alpha had seen him for who he truly was and accepted him with open arms. They were invincible now, unparalleled. He was jealous of their connection.

Will was brought low by the ugliness of this last thought. The debris of his mind were getting more and more scrambled. No sense of what was his anymore. Will might as well be a murderer too for how much he longed for the work of one. Maybe there was no good left on him anymore.

Will knew damn well what he had to do but he stalled as much as he could, letting himself be kissed for a second more, gasping and moaning with it before pulling away from Hannibal, hands on his chest, trying to catch his breath. Hannibal’s breath too was labored, heavy pants being delivered to Will’s cheek where his lips were now pressed. The hand on his cheek had moved to the nape of his neck, caressing his curls, softly, reverently. Hannibal got a tighter hold of his hair, baring his neck, and tried to kiss him again.

Will would not survive this, he had to leave. He had to leave, but this time he had to leave for good. He knew now that Abigail and Hannibal both believed _, mistakenly_ he might add, that they wanted Will in their lives. He had the responsibility to obliterate such notion entirely. It was his responsibility, because he knew the vile, awful workings of his mind were only decaying with time and influence. Will felt as far from a good human being as he ever felt in his life and it seemed like the road ahead was grimmer still. He thought about the Omega Widow and the alpha finding each other and gulped dry, horrified, because he knew deep down he wished it were _him._

He pushed Hannibal even further away, without looking him in the eye, severing their connection altogether. 

“I am sorry Hannibal. It’s not fair to put you in this position. I am so sorry for leading you on-I. We just can’t do this, ok? I can’t do this to you. I’m sorry.”

Will took a moment to make peace with his decision, wiping his bruised red mouth with the back of his hand, nodding to himself. Terrified of looking into Hannibal’s eyes. Once it was ripped apart, Will fought hard with his resolve, lest it crumble right before his eyes. He persevered.

“I will see myself out.”

He didn’t wait around for Hannibal’s reply. Will left the studio hurriedly and entered the hallway where he grabbed his coat and left through the front door, closing it gently behind him. An apology of sorts. Will faced the street of a neighborhood with promises of family, of life together. It didn’t matter really if they were proper posh families or if they were ill-adjusted found ones. What truly mattered was how pure their connection was. People with kind hearts, good intentions. Not people who saw evil in the eye and evil saw right back into them. Most definitely not people who looked at the face of murder and saw beauty in it. Who were _jealous_ of it. And absolutely, with no shadow of a doubt, not people who reserved an ever-increasing aliquot of their minds to such darkness themselves.

Will stepped out of Hannibal's porch with a final shuddery breath, a stray tear scaping his eyes. The man smoking on the bench was not there anymore. Will was, at last, alone.


	7. The Omega Widow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, fellas! Here we are once again.
> 
> This fic is the first thing I’ve ever shared with this fandom and it reached 5k hits this week, I am so happy 💜 It’s way more than I could expect, thank you so much for the engagement (especially those of you who keep coming back every week 💜)!
> 
> I will leave my notes at the end because they are a bit spoilery. Enjoy!

Will tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he made his way back from the grocery store, his shopping bags swaying one way or another every once in a while on the rocky road. The radio was turned on, some talk show where listeners would come in for advice about their relationship problems and the host would provide some generic and utterly misguided response. The host being an alpha of course. Will rolled his eyes.

_“It’s not proper, it’s what I’m saying. There are plenty of gals around for a fine young alpha such as himself to choose from, me included. We can offer children. We can provide anything an alpha might need. There’s no reason to bring home those heat-heads, who only know how to entice our men and leave their slick all over the place. It’s nasty business. A man is supposed to be with a woman, just like God’s plan.”_

_“Thank you, Karen, for sharing your opinion with us. It’s an interesting debate to have, especially with SJW groups pushing the agenda of omega inclusion in the working force, which we know to be a controversial topic.”_

_“Exactly! God abiding alphas and women are being threatened by the special treatment these omegas are demanding of society these days! It’s time we take action against those abnormalities that we call omegas. They should be put in custody of the government, not walking around freely affecting everyone with their pheromo-”_

Will turned off the radio violently, disgusted and fuming and so, so tired of this world. The political situation of omegas seemed to be getting worse and worse. Not only they could not assume positions of power but now society wanted to deny them the right of finding…family? Love?

He experienced a flash right then, a phantom feeling of lips touching his and whimpered softly squirming in his seat, longing for it but not letting himself yielded to it either way. The past couple of days had been spent in a state of controlled isolation. Not answering some phone calls, ignoring text messages. Abigail’s worried ones being the hardest to overlook, but Will powered through just the same. He just needed to recalibrate, he thought. He had spent his entire life being alone, it shouldn’t be hard to go back to his old ways. He nodded to himself. It was just a matter of time now.

Will took a turn to the right, at last reaching his destination. He parked outside his front door, still seething from what he heard on the talk show, and started gathering the groceries on his arms. While he was still hunched over the trunk of his car he noticed the first sign of something odd. Although he could hear his dogs barking in the background, none of them had come to greet him. Very odd. He straightened up, following his ear and noticed that their barks were coming from his tool shed, apparently being locked up inside. Will frowned and looked back to his own house, and immediately went for the handgun he kept hidden on the trunk of his car, attaching it methodically to the holster on his belt.

A single light was turned on inside his kitchen. Not trying to hide their location, then. Ok. And they didn’t hurt his dogs either. Will let out a slow breath and tried to compose himself, hand losing its tight grip on the gun. He started towards his porch with careful steps, ears attuned to any rustling sound, eyes searching for any abrupt movement. His front door was ajar. As if in welcome. Will braced himself on the doorframe for a second before taking the last step inside.

The stranger was sitting on a stool by his kitchen counter, fiddling with an assortment of bottles and syringes that were spread on top of it. He raised his eyes as if sensing Will’s presence looming by the doorstep and gave him a tight nod, pushing the other stool in his direction with a movement of his foot. Will breathed in deep once again and was not surprised to smell the sweet, delicate notes of pre-heat coming from the man. So, this is the fate that the universe had reserved to him, then. Just as well. Will turned around and closed the door softly behind him before facing the Omega Widow and whichever else consequences awaited him.

“Will Graham” he called, the voice strong and cold, belonging to a man not to be trifled with “At last. It’s time we talked.”

Will let his eyes move around the omega cataloguing his features, while he was given the same treatment. The man was in his early forties, ginger, with all the assets that came with it, the auburn hair, the green eyes, the freckles on his face. He was a beautiful man, which granted, was a common feature between omegas. But his pleasing features were compromised by the severe expression lines that graced his forehead. The tight set of his mouth. The coldness in his eyes. This was a man profoundly hurt by his past and it poured out of him like molasses. His mourning. His pain.

“So, how may I call you?” Will asked quietly, breaking the silence “Since you already know my name.”

“James” He responded with a curious tilt of his head, regarding Will with interest “I gather you know who I am.”

“Yes. The FBI calls me when they need someone to read the messages you’ve created. I’ve been to all your tableaux by now.”

James nodded nonchalantly, scratching his beard with his knuckles.

“I snooped on the message you’ve been trying to convey to someone else. I trespassed on it” Will mulled over the words, trying to understand what this killer’s angle was exactly “Is that why you came after me?”

James tightened his eyes in distrust. He shook his head once “No.”

“No?”

“No.”

Ok. Fair enough. If not for his job, there was only one other reason for this killer to come after him “But something about this encounter is different, right?” Will inspected the bottles and equipment placed on the table. Pentobarbital. The syringes poised with a needle the right caliber for an intravenous injection. The _M.O._ for the women and betas, mates of the alphas in the murder scenes “You didn’t hit me with a fatal injection of anesthesia. I don’t fit your victim profile” Will argued, confused and trying really hard to get the upper hand on this situation.

“That’s right. You don’t, do you?” James asked sarcastically, knocking the stool back which hit the floor with a loud bang and raising to his feet. Will flinched, eyes wide, fingertips touching his gun again, but the man only started pacing around his kitchen, hands inside his pockets like he was perfectly at ease, only his tone betraying his anger “I was not able to smell you, you know. The night you met with _him_.”

“What?”

James turned to face him, producing a small pill bottle from his pocket and shook it, the little pills making a rattling sound inside of it “Suppressants. That’s why.” Will noticed then that the bottle in his hands came from his own stash of hormone suppressants he’d been taking religiously his entire life. The man had raided Will’s house while he was out. James scoffed out loud “What a goddamn travesty. An omega who’s ashamed of being who he is. Hiding behind a beta smell.” He shook his head in disgust, throwing the bottle on the floor, making the pills spread everywhere. 

Will’s head was spinning, struggling to understand this man’s rationale. While being taken as a beta might put him on the radar of the Omega’s victim profile, the major point of his murders was still blatantly missing. Will was _not mated_. He was not in a relationship with an alpha. There was no alpha to be trialed and punished by this killer- _Oh_. “You were the man on the bench. Outside of Hannibal’s-” Will trailed off as the implications of the words made themselves known to him. He felt a sick burn to his stomach “You saw us that night. You- were you courting him?”

It made sense. A well-groomed, successful alpha. Well-off, high social status. There was this classical elegance about him. Hannibal, as an alpha, fit the Omega’s victim profile to a t. Will had noticed such before, albeit subconsciously. Will’s heart began to make itself known inside his ribcage, the wave of nausea overcoming him, not Hannibal, oh god, not him- _call down, Will, breathe. Focus-_ Wait.

Because Will, well. He presented this killer with a conundrum, didn’t he? The reason why Will was not already dead. What had given this killer pause, a moment to engage with Will first, to question him. To be _angry_ at him, like he never was with the betas and women that he had killed so mercifully before. No, Will was _different._

James was examining him now, leaning his shoulder on the fridge. Anger and frustration coloring his nice features. It felt like Will and he were mulling over the exact same thought “What I was _not_ counting on was for you to be a fucking omega” He rubbed a hand through his face “I’m always careful. I thoroughly research my potential candidates. It’s not my intention to cause any-injustice, especially not to us, omegas. We don’t need any more injustice in this world as it is.”

These thoughts were nothing new to Will, of course, because he’d already _seen_ him. He had already connected with him. He just had to get reacquainted with his mindset. Will let the gentle sway of the pendulum take him back to the space in his mind the Omega Widow now occupied and bared his heart once again to the soul of another “You don’t kill them out of spite, or out of anger. You kill them because they can’t see what you see. That they are not right for each other. Alphas mating with betas. Mating with women. When you know, _you know_ , what a true bond looks like. How it _feels._ Or, hum. How it felt. Once.” Will ended on a sad note, his heart heavy with sorrow.

James was gazing at him now with a strange expression, like he was trying to find the pitfall on Will’s understanding. He gulped down harshly, but didn’t proffer a word.

Will pressed on fierce in his convictions now that he and James entwined in his mind as one “It’s in our physiology. There’s not a deeper bond, not a highest form of connection. Then with whom we can truly be ourselves with. A real bond. No excuses, no apologies, no regrets. And once you have experienced that, well. Nothing will ever feel as wholesome right? You are left with no choice but to try to…replicate. What you once had.”

The omega was looking at Will with wide eyes, white knuckles gripping tightly the counter behind him “I _do_ try to find real connection. I want them to understand. It doesn’t work if they can’t see it. That I am actually setting them free.” He whispered and he sounded anguished over it.

“You do. You free them from their wrong, flawed families. You clear away their paths for a real mating bond. You give them the opportunity to actually experience true connection through you. Like you deserved for so long. Like they deserved too.”

James nodded jerkily, trembling “But they never understand. They are not able to see me, no matter how hard I try. I can’t make them see me, not like he-” he stopped himself short, looking away from Will.

But there was no need to look away. Not when his thoughts already resided deep within Will’s mind “Not like _he_ was able to see you. Your mate. Your late alpha. The one that was taken away from you.”

The man looked absolutely stricken and Will wondered if he had gone too far. If he had crossed a line that there was no turning back from. He closed his eyes and waited for this killer’s judgement. His empathy made him tired, this man’s feelings overwhelmed him. His amounting anguish led to bone deep exhaustion.

Will opened his eyes again, startled, when he felt a gentle hand grasping his face, running a thumb across his cheek. James was looking wonderingly at him “You are beautiful. And your eyes can see light even in the darkest of places. I understand why he would fall in love with you ” He sighed and looked down for a second. When he gazed back at Will, his expression had hardened with determination “But then you of all people must understand this too. I’ve had potential alphas before. But not like this one. This one is _special._ He’s the first real shot I’ve had since- since Thomas. Since my first alpha was gone. A real shot, of actually being seen by an equal. Of being loved for who I am.”

But Will _didn’t_ understand. Why Hannibal. Why him, why now when there was a killer out there who was perfect for this man. Who had seen him for who he was, who had already accepted him. Didn’t James know? Didn’t he know how lucky he was to have bared the darkest corners of his soul and have someone still think he was beautiful? Didn’t he understand how jealous Will was of him?

But before Will could say any of that, the hand on his cheek ran down and settled around his throat “ You are beautiful, yet you hide in the shadows, afraid to be seen. What a silly man you are. Don’t you know who he is?” He spitted out and all traces of empathy, of understanding between them was gone. This was war and Will didn’t know whether to raise arms or surrender “You know you don’t deserve him. The girl too. He needs to start over, and I can provide that. I know this time I can make it work. A clean slate for both of us.”

 _No, no, no._ Will thought with dread, frantic, somehow having never anticipated this, having Abigail being dragged into the situation. _Not Abigail._

“I wonder if he’ll accept both of your hearts.” And the hand began to squeeze around Will’s throat.

A survival instinct kicked in just then and Will gripped the man’s wrist tightly back. _Not Abigail_. Not when she had finally found the family she deserved. When she was finally on her way to happiness. She was not a mistake that this killer had to amend.

 _Not Hannibal_. Not Hannibal because he had the right to choose his own unconventional family. Not Hannibal because Will was terrified of the fate that awaited for him, were he not to pass this Omega’s test. Of him joining the ranks of other disappointments of alphas before him. Of Will and he never having the possibility of-

Will struggled with the grip on his throat but it was too tight, the killer older and more experienced than him. He had to resort to other means. Something sinister within him made itself known just then. It crawled its way forwards beckoned by this dangerous situation, sprawling in the dark, reaching towards the light. Begging to take control and reign over him. Will kicked the man’s shin with all his might and fell backwards, trying to get away from his constricting grip. It only resulted in making both of them fall together to the ground, James on top of him, holding him down. Will managed to crush the bone of his knee between the man’s ribs making him let out a pained sounding grunt and lose both his breath and the grip he had on Will. Will scurried away quickly, rolling to his feet and getting the gun out of his holster, pointing it to the Omega’s chest.

They stared at each other in the middle of Will’s kitchen in a stalemate. Both taking deep ragged breaths, sweating and disheveled, eyes unwavering and calculating. Wil should call Jack. He should keep James at gun point and call for backup but there was something stopping him. Something that was still seething with outrage, something with sharp claws and gnawing teeth that once unleashed, didn’t seem to want to be caged back again.

 _Not Hannibal_ because- And a dark possessiveness struck his core right then. The core that Will tried so hard to maintain buried, that made him keep people at bay, pull away from Abigail, end his kiss with Hannibal too soon- suddenly this core was ripped wide open, unleashed itself like a deluge. Flooding his very existence. Taking over like it very much longed to, after all these years of negligence.

Not Hannibal, because Hannibal was _his_.

Will cocked his gun and James rose an eyebrow at him, a hint of a smile in the slant of his mouth “Well, look at you, omega. You and I are not so different after all.”

Will saw red at this and shot the man at close range, two bullets to the heart, his body falling to the floor with a loud thump. Will watched dispassionately the blood streaming down the wounds, forming a halo around his body.

Silence.

Will closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, shaken. His mind at complete blank. He stood there letting himself breathe in and out, in and out, trying to process what had just happened, what he had done.

(In) this killer would never hurt anyone again.

(Out) he had killed a man tonight.

(In) Hannibal and Abigail were safe now.

(Out) they would find out. Eventually they would find out Will was a killer.

(In) and a warm scent of morning dew and wild berries, dark and woody hit him, comforting and familiar.

Close by.

Will instantly opened his eyes again to see Hannibal standing on his doorway, eyes scrutinizing Will’s face, the gun on his hand, the body on the floor. Will couldn’t read the expression on his face and that frightened him more than anything else.

The blank state inside his mind turned into loud static and Will couldn’t breathe.

“I was approaching your house when I heard the gunshots. I came to you because you were not answering my phone calls, I could not help but to be concerned-” Hannibal breathed in deeply with eyes closed and Will thought offhandedly about the Omega’s sweet preheat scent that still hoovered around his kitchen and _oh_ -Will noted clinically through his shock-that’s how the Omega handled his victims so easily. He approached the alphas during his heat. It had to be easier to appease them under the influence of his pheromones. Though all of this was of no consequence now. Will chuckled lowly, half-hysterical with what’d just happened.

Hannibal was still observing him as if enraptured and intrigued, a shadow of something unnameable written on his face “Will. Tell me what happened.”

This was it, then. The moment Will had been dreading ever since Hannibal entered his life. The moment of truth. Hannibal would see him for who he truly was. See the ugliness within. Laying bare on this murder scene, spreading crimson on the kitchen floor. Gunpowder on his fingertips. Bury once and for all the ludicrous ideas he had that Will was someone that could be actually be loved by him. Will gulped down, terror making his stomach lurch, his skin break in goosebumps, but he whispered just the same “He was coming after you. I’m sorry” Will closed his eyes and waited for certain repugnance. For horror and rejection because that’s the kind of response owed to a person like him.

Yet, contradicting all of his expectations, Will felt touch. Loving fingers caressing his face, holding him sweetly “You beautiful, fascinating creature. What could you ever be sorry for?” And his voice was so affectionate, so gentle that it made Will open his eyes because he needed to _see_. And what he saw made him lose his breath completely. Because Hannibal’s eyes were dark, darker than they’ve ever been before, pupils so dilated that they took over, save for a ring of red. _Alpha red_. Hannibal breathed in deeply and Will knew he could smell the pre-heat, he could smell the blood. He could also smell whichever scent Will was sure to be transpiring too, suppressants or not. His hands trembled slightly where they clutched Will’s face, thumb tracing the contour of his cheek.

Will gazed wonderingly at him because he had never seen Hannibal so out of it before. Overwrought. Overwhelmed. Barely in control. Hannibal’s scent was getting stronger too, muskier and deeper, calling out for Will. Insinuating itself within his mind and downright affecting him.

 _Rut_ , his mind provided, in warning, as if sensing the danger lurking around him.

Will took a reflexive step back and Hannibal advanced forwards automatically with a low growl, like he couldn’t help it. The abrupt movement seemed to give him a moment of clarity, because he shook his head, eyes tightly closed for a second, and when he opened them again, his pupils had shrunk a bit, returning to a normal size. Hannibal took a step back putting distance between them, releasing them from the tension of their previous stance “Will. I fear we have found ourselves in a difficult situation. I believe you not to be safe around me right now” It looked like he was breathing through his mouth in small sips, as if trying to decrease the amount of pheromones he was breathing in, and stave off the imminent precipice of rut he was about to fall in “I advise you to back away slowly and calmly, take your car and leave. I do not wish to hurt you” he finished with a hint of anguish in his voice and it looked like it pained him to stay still. To stay away from Will.

And Will. Will could only stare at Hannibal in awe because here he laid. Bare and vulnerable. The monster inside him having been unleashed for all the world to see, for Hannibal to witness. Hannibal could have run away. He should have immediately called the police and left. In disgust and horror after witnessing how ugly Will truly was. And yet. He was still here. Advising Will against him. Will had shown him his worse and it seemed to have triggered a rut in him.

Hannibal looked up with a confused frown in his face, wondering perhaps why Will was still here. Will made a decision just then. He breathed out slowly, fiercely and let all the armor he had left inside him fall down and crash to the ground because, apparently, he didn’t need it anymore. Not with Hannibal.

He stayed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I include a quote by Brian Kinney from Queer as Folk somewhere in there? I most certainly did, yes.
> 
> So, James. I was thinking about this killer’s personality and physicality when mapping out the plot and I thought he should be based on Captain James Flint from Black Sails. The problem is that I fucking love Flint, so I kinda got attached to this character. It was hard to see him go. Bye James, I wish you plenty of love in your life and a hug ❤
> 
> And we have a surprise!rut. Wonder how the hell this shitstorm is gonna develop from here (Please don’t kill me :D)


	8. Burning Bridges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I heard you guys like porn? 👀
> 
> This chapter's first outline was a bracket written [sex & confusion] and I guess it just about summarizes everything (:
> 
> Enjoy!

_He stayed._

Hannibal lunged in his direction, no finesse, no sense of decorum, as he busied himself with trying to devour Will with hungry kisses, bruising lips and sharp teeth. Will just held on as Hannibal crowded him against the wall with the full weight of his body, hands hurried and demanding as they grabbed him all over, struggling to make up his mind about which part of Will he wanted to devote himself to first.

Will moaned out loud as Hannibal’s tongue delved into his mouth, claiming and forceful, and held onto his broad shoulders, giving back as much as he could. Hannibal flushed his body to Will’s, from shoulders to knees pressing him against the wall and _oh god_ , he was so hard, Will could feel it, all those inches rubbing against him, digging into his hip, making him break the kiss and pant into the crook of Hannibal’s neck, overwhelmed.

Hannibal was having none of that.

He was flipped bodily and effortlessly chest to the wall in a move that made his head spin, and Hannibal was non-verbal now, only deep groans and breathy gasps leaving his red lips. Will braced himself, not sure what to expect because they hadn’t talked about boundaries. They hadn’t even broached the matter of sex, this was terrifying. It made Will’s cock unbearably hard, undoubtedly, but he also knew that the rut was intended to take place between an alpha and an omega, both driven by pheromones, endless stamina and slick to sustain the marathon of sex that was bound to ensue. Will, though an omega, had been under the effect of suppressants for years. Decades. Will couldn’t remember the last time he had gone through a heat. And he most definitely never had endured an alpha’s rut before. Will presented as a beta, for all intents and purposes had only experienced sex in his life as a beta. But his body seemed to be trying it’s best to respond as an omega in the presence of a virile alpha now, a lifetime of suppressants be damned.

Will was not surprised when he felt his pants being ripped off in a swift movement, but he was surprised to feel Hannibal’s bare, thick cock all of the sudden being squeezed between his cheeks. Will couldn’t help it, he cried out anxiously, sobering up from the rush of lust that was threatening to cloud over his mind. He wasn’t-slick as an omega should be, he hadn’t produced slick in years, he couldn’t take this dry, he wouldn’t make it-but Hannibal retreated the pressure of his hips immediately, sensing his unease and shushed him softly, peppering his shoulder with kisses to calm him down.

“Shhh, it’s alright, now. I said I didn’t wish to hurt you. Trust me to always mean what I say to you.”

And that did it for him because Will did trust him. He relaxed his posture, breathed out slowly and let it happen. Hannibal adjusted his position so that his cock delved in the soft space between his thighs, slide made slick by the precome that was already dripping from the tip. Hannibal got a hold of his flanks and pressed his legs close together, tightening the channel for his cock to fuck through “Keep them nice and tight for me.”

Will nodded, holding the position and was rewarded with Hannibal’s drawn out hiss as he began a punishing pace between his thighs, hips slapping against his. Hannibal was clearly close, the rut demanding the first of multiple orgasms he was in the verge of chasing. Will moaned along with him, rendered speechless by the press of their bodies together, how well they fit, how Hannibal’s rut scent clogged his nostrils and made him delirious with want, raw desire, _fuck_ \- Hannibal covered Will’s arms that were bracing himself against the wall with his own and increased his pace, head tucked to the curve of Will’s neck, scenting him, nuzzling his shoulder and it was-so intimate. _So right._

The head of Hannibal’s cock caught in the rim of Will’s hole just so, flirting with the idea of sliding in and Will whimpered desperately, half want and half dread and that was it for Hannibal, his hips stuttering and faltering in their frenzied rhythm, a low groan vocalized right next to Will’s ear and a flood of warm come covering the back of his thighs, in between his cheeks.

It was not enough.

There was no time to catch their breaths. Hannibal turned him around and kissed him senseless, urging Will’s legs up to wrap around his hips so he could carry him to bed. Will obliged him, too turned on to say otherwise. Hannibal deposited him on top of the bed and took a moment to rid Will of the remains of his clothing before manhandling him so that he was belly first on the bed, ass hanging at the edge of it, legs stretched out with his feet on the floor. _Presenting_ , Will thought shakily, cheeks blushing to a shade of pink. Presenting in a classical omega position, to be bred, to be filled up by an alpha like he’d never been-and all thoughts right then and there shriveled and died inside his head as Hannibal chose to kneel behind him and start rimming Will within an inch of his life. Will didn’t understand- the rut was supposed to be about Hannibal, his urges, his knot-

_Fuck, oh fuck, oh my god, that’s-_

Will babbled mindlessly, fisting the sheets in front of him as Hannibal proceeded to eat him out, tongue circling his rim before plunging in with abandon, making Will see starts, writhing and moaning helplessly. Hannibal acted like a man with a mission, even through the haze of his rut, and that mission was to make Will as pliable and open as he could with the stretch of his tongue, wiggling around his rim, opening him up slowly but surely. Will snaked a hand between his stomach and the mattress to try and alleviate his burning need for release, but Hannibal’s hand shot up and circled his wrist, stopping him.

"I’d ask you not to touch yourself lest you be overstimulated, Will. I'm afraid I’m not sure how long this rut will take me" Hannibal took both of his hands and pressed them against the mattress, making Will tremble, completely at his mercy "Just hold on for me, can you do that? You are doing so well. Let me take care of you."

Will could only nod demurely and comply to whatever Hannibal asked of him. He grabbed the lube he had on the nightstand and passed it to Hannibal who kissed his hip in appreciation and started fingering him, loose and easy, one finger and then two. Will pressed his forehead to the sheets, it felt so good already, he couldn’t fathom how Hannibal's cock would feel, how wide it would stretch him, _his knot-fuck_. Will could see in the periphery of his vision Hannibal's other arm moving as he stroked himself in time with the finger fucking motion he had going on, as if he was projecting how fucking Will would feel, as if he couldn’t help it. Will was going out of this mind with it. He was up to four fingers now, begging for release when he heard Hannibal’s stuttered breaths and felt him coming again on the back of his thighs, groaning deep and masculine and sounding a little hurt by it. Will knew why. At this point of his rut he needed to knot something, or he would go insane. Will was actually impressed with how lucid and careful he had been so far in handling him.

Will was so absolutely ready to be fucked now, but Hannibal dived right back into rimming him with a vengeance, moaning with a hint of desperation, tongue circling his stretched rim, uncaring about the taste of lube. His hand closed around Will’s cock, slick and easy with his own come and Will almost choked on his own spit, so fucking on edge it physically hurt. He couldn't take this torture anymore.

Driven by desperation, Will crawled forwards on all fours, freeing himself from Hannibal's hold, kneeling near the headboard and looking back over his shoulder in invitation. Hannibal lunged after him, dark, dark desire clouding his eyes once again and right now he was in full alpha mode, imponent and powerful and Will had never been more turned on in his life. This was happening, Will was going to be taken by an alpha. He was going to give in, give into his omegan instincts and let himself be had. It was both terrifying and exhilarating and Will couldn’t concentrate on anything besides Hannibal's scent and the maddening things his body was doing to him.

Hannibal chased after him, coming close enough to make their skin touch and Will closed his eyes in surrender. He ran a reverent hand over the planes of Will's back and spread Will's thighs wider with his own knees until Will's legs were bracketing his own, exposing him completely to Hannibal's heated gaze. He bridged down, stretching the whole of this chest over the skin of Will’s back, enveloping him with his scent and body heat and Will was spiraling from the intimacy of it. Hannibal rested his face at the back of Will’s neck and inhaled deeply, savoring his scent. _What information could he extract from Will’s dulled, suppressed scent?_ He wondered. Will shuddered and whined demandingly, and trust Hannibal to be an infuriatingly through lover even in the face of a rut. Will had had enough of this stalling. He pushed his ass back, nudging Hannibal’s hips with his own, challenging a response, demanding action on his part.

Hannibal obliged him, nosing the tips of his hair sweetly one last time before pulling back so he could have a full view of Will’s body, prone and displayed in submission, completely his for the taking. The vision had to be satisfying, Will concluded, because Hannibal went feral with it, not wasting another second before grabbing Will’s ass with both hands and angling his cock until the head caught on the rim that had been stretched and abused beyond measure and pushed in with a snarl. Will moaned a filthy drawn out sound, head hanging between his shoulders in bliss as Hannibal bottomed out, unrelenting and deep inside of him.

They fucked like this, Will on his hands and knees, Hannibal covering him completely, mouthing at the side of his neck, sucking bruises to his skin but tame enough not to break it, not trying to claim him with a mating bite for which Will was both relieved and secretly a little disappointed. Will could hear Hannibal was getting close by his punched out little groans, sounding like he was barely holding himself together. Suddenly, the arm that had been secured around Will’s chest, tightened itself further like a brand and lifted Will with him, so that both of them were on their knees and Will cried out sharply, the position making Hannibal’s cock reach even deeper, filling him up like he never had been before, like he didn’t even know he could be and Will trembled and whimpered with the added pressure to his prostate. Hannibal took Will’s hands with him and positioned them on the bars of the headboard, covering both fists with his own while they took a moment to just breathe together, overwhelmed and panting and completely at their wits end.

Hannibal touched his forehead to the nape of Will’s neck and held himself there for just a second, while he tightened his hands around Will’s fists in a clear sign of _stay there_ before letting go. Will acquiesced. After the span of a breath, Hannibal straightened up a bit, reared back and started to fuck Will ruthlessly, with abandon, the sound of their hips slapping together obscene in the room. And Hannibal, _oh god, oh fuck_ Hannibal knew just how to fuck him, all-consuming and deadly and Will saw black, couldn’t handle how it felt, could only grip the bars of the headboard tightly and hold on for dear life.

Hannibal surged forwards and grasped the headboard himself for leverage, arms caging him in and there was not a piece of Will that wasn’t Hannibal’s right now. Hannibal fucked him with short, powerful trusts while he panted, the rut taking the better of him now, Will suspected and Will had never been fucked this well, this thoroughly in his life. Hannibal leaned even further into him, cheek touching his and whimpered softly, trying to catch his breath and Will waited, waited to see what else Hannibal was going to give to him.

“Will. I am getting close. I must- _fuck_ ” He rasped in a growl and grinded his cock into Will in a dirty twist of his hips and Will felt his legs go weak, wouldn’t be able to stand straight right now if it wasn’t for Hannibal’s tight grasp on him “I need to knot you _,_ Will. Do you understand? I _need_ to have you, you must let me have you” And the last part was a dirty mumble proffered into Will’s skin, Hannibal’s mouth latched onto his shoulder once again.

And Will couldn’t say no, he could barely think straight. Right now, he would take whatever Hannibal wanted to give him, needed to be truly taken like he had never needed anything before. He whispered fervently “Yes, please, whatever you want Hannibal, take it, take me, whatever you need- _please_ ” A sharp snarl behind him and then Will couldn’t say anything at all because Hannibal’s hand had wrapped around his cock unforgiving, determined to make Will lose it along with him.

They both went frantic from there. The sound of their skin slapping together was loud and obscene to Will’s ears and Will felt with thrilling unease Hannibal’s knot start to form at the base of his cock, growing large and thick and catching at the rim of his hole, stinging anew.

Hannibal’s hand sped up on his cock, giving him a twist and milking motion on the head that made Will go feral, fucking into his hand frantically and back onto his cock, trying to get more of everything all at once. Hannibal’s breathing hitched and his hips pistoned further, knot so big now it was difficult to fuck in, but Hannibal tried to just the same, adding pressure to his entrance from the outside. Seemingly out of frustration, Hannibal got a hold of both of Will’s shoulder and brought him back down onto his lap forcefully, and the knot managed to slip past through the resistance of Will’s rim and inside, rightfully where it belonged, as deep as it could go, fucking big and unrelenting _oh my fucking god_ and-

And then it was the end for both of them. Hannibal let out a low grunt, harsh and masculine as he came and Will couldn’t hold it in anymore, mewling brokenly as he orgasmed on Hannibal’s hand, unhinged by the feeling of Hannibal’s knot and come inside of him.

Will had never been knotted before, he had no idea how overwhelming it felt. How completely and thoroughly claimed it would make him feel. He had no idea before that this was something to crave, something to cherish. He felt utterly and devastatingly owned and connected and the feeling terrified him because it was a feeling he had sought after all his life without knowing. Without thinking it attainable.

They caught their breaths, both still on their knees, Hannibal hugging him firmly from behind and nothing made sense anymore. Will didn’t know he could share intimacy so profoundly, could give himself over to someone so completely. He felt exhausted both physically and emotionally. Hannibal took a hold of his hips and moved both of them backwards carefully on the bed so they could lay on their sides and wait for the knot to go down.

They laid there in silence for a while, both of them with their arms stretched in front of Will and Will was trying to ignore the worries that were slowly worming their way back to him by tracing mindless circles on the top of Hannibal’s hand, following the veins with his fingertips. Intimacy was a Trojan Horse in a way that once you accepted it, you left yourself vulnerable to whatever else came out of it. Will came from a lifetime of avoiding vulnerability, he was a pro at it. Hannibal, on the contrary, seemed to feed off the feeling, emanating an aura of contentment and happiness that embraced Will like a caress. He didn’t seem to be getting enough of Will even in the cooling off period, seeking out places where Will’s scent was stronger, making tight aborted movements with his hips as if testing the depth of the connection that tied them together. Hannibal, for all intents and purposes, acted like a happily mated alpha and that was a thought that froze and burned Will from the inside in the same measure, beyond his capacity of comprehension. The feeling overwhelmed and scared him, something too big to be contained inside his chest. He reached out tentatively.

"How are you feeling?"

Hannibal snuggled closer to him, lips softly brushing the shell of his ear "Never better, Will. You couldn’t have been more perfect for me” He seemed to hesitate for a second before continuing “If I were to spend all my ruts with you from now on, I would be a happy man."

Will squirmed in his arms, not knowing how to respond to the praise, but secretly satisfied for having pleased his- _fuck, not his, what the fuck was he thinking-_ alpha. He deflected "How long until it goes down?"

Hannibal sighed and it sounded a little hurt, like he knew very well that Will was trying to pull away from him "Usually no more than twenty minutes, though it’s been decades since I’ve been so viscerally affected by a rut. I could not know. Sleep, Will. I’ll let you know when I need you again." A kiss to his shoulder. Simple as that.

And there were too many thoughts circling inside his head for Will to relax enough to sleep. From the alpha in his bed, still inside him, body and mind, overtaking him, infiltrating until Will couldn’t know where one started and the other finished. To the body in his kitchen, having unleashed something in him he had only flirted with before. Blood on his hands and his mind and it didn’t seem like it would wash away, but it would stain and darken and consume him. Darkness was an ocean and Will felt like he was adrift with no hope of finding safe haven again.

"Shhh, dear one, do not fret. Sleep now. I'll take care of everything."

And then, amidst chaos and insecurity, there was this deep, rumbling voice calming him, there were strong arms around him protecting him, there was a woody scent that surrounded him and beckoned him towards comfort. Towards acceptance. Towards sleep.

So, Will did.

Will woke up disoriented and feeling too warm, his mind a reflection of the hurricane that had hit both of them the previous night. He rolled to his back and several muscles stood to attention, pleasantly sore. It was a nice, welcome feeling. He looked to his left and let his gaze wonder softly up the planes of Hannibal’s back, to his shoulder blades, broad shoulders and well-defined arms. A body that not long ago was constant movement, over him and under, intent on drawing pleasure out of him in any form, by any means. Now the same body breathed slowly, slept peacefully, rumpled and disheveled after a night of consecutive orgasms. The rut taking a toll on him that the early morning lights didn’t manage to dissipate.

Will let himself entertain, only briefly, a daydream where Hannibal and he were mates that had just gone through a night of rut together. Perhaps Will had been away for too long in a business trip. Perhaps Hannibal witnessed Will being maternal towards a young one, a random moment of sweetness, and went a bit feral with it.

And Will would wake up, just like he did. And his heart would flutter in his chest just by looking at him, looking at his- _his mate_. And there would be a pull towards Hannibal, just like the one he was feeling right now, a strong urge to wake him up with slow kisses, bare himself open and inviting, let himself be had all over again. Rinse and repeat. Never leave.

Will stood up quickly, leaving Hannibal in his bed, still sound asleep. The rut was over now and so was whatever pheromone-induced bond there ever was between them. Good. He rubbed a hand on his neck, unblemished, no mating bites to account for. Even better. No attachments.

Will left the room before he could change his mind, grabbed his car keys and headed to the front door.

He resolutely didn’t look at his kitchen floor.

There were more bridges that needed to be burned.

Alana picked up the phone on the third ring, her voice surprised but cheerful “Will? Hi! I was about to head to Quantico for my 9am. You want to carpool?”

Will looked around the mostly empty parking lot next to the BAU building, but getting more crowded by the minute. He’d stayed the last 15 minutes inside the car, feeling feverish and anxious in a way he supposed amounted to nerves, as he ran through his mind what needed to be done “No need, thank you. I’m already there.”

She must have sensed something in his tone “Oh? Is everything ok with you? We haven’t talked in a while, have we? Wanna grab some lunch today?”

Will most definitely didn’t want to face her today “I slept with Hannibal last night” He let it slip out accidentally and immediately regretted it.

A disconcerted pause “Oh? Was it-not good?”

 _Oh god_ “Alana-” he took out his glasses and rubbed his eyes. If only that were the problem.

“I’m sorry, that was an intrusive question. I just- It’s not like I didn’t suspect it. Hannibal’s interest was so palpable it was actually amusing to witness. And you, well. You circled him like he was something you didn’t want to lose sight of. I’ve never seen you so engrossed with someone before. I figured it was just a matter of time.”

Will pressed his forehead to the steering wheel and closed his eyes, and he couldn’t even let himself feel ashamed of how obvious he was in his attraction. There were more pressing matters to deal with right now “I did something bad.”

“I don’t believe that…Look. My class ends at 11am. We can meet and talk about this in person, ok? I don’t like the way you sound right now.”

Will ran a hand through his hair, twitchy and anguished and there was a frantic feeling inside his chest that wouldn’t go away, but seemed to be expanding and leaving no room inside his ribcage for actual air “None of that matters anymore, Alana. This is not the reason why I called. I-I need a favor. I need you to look after my dogs. Will you?”

“Why are you asking me that?” Her concern could be felt as a physical thing crashing on his skin via radio waves.

Will gulped down the knot in his throat and powered on “Despite-despite whatever you might come to learn about me. And whatever changes are made in your perception of me. I really need you to take care of them, ok? Is it ok for me to ask you that?”

“Will, you are scaring me, that’s not fair. What is going on with-?”

“ _Is it ok to ask you that?”_ he repeated vehemently.

“Yes. Of course, Will. Of course, I would always take care of them.”

Will sighed in relief, nodding to himself “Good-that’s good. You are a good person, Alana.”

“-Will?”

“Goodbye, now.”

On to other bridges to burn.

Will rested his forehead on the window of the car rolling his head side to side trying to cool off a bit, but it felt like a lost battle. Jack kept sending him worried glances from his side of the car and he wasn’t paying much attention to the road at all, was he?

The conversation that had taken place back in Quantico’s headquarters was a muddled thing in Will’s head as if he were trying to grasp sand between his fingers. There was cotton inside his brain, enveloping his synapses, making it so that his neurons had a hard time connecting with each other. Like slow motion. Like molasses. Like there was a broad picture somewhere out there, just out of reach of his fingertips. If he could only focus just a little harder, strain just a little longer he might make sense of-

He had barged into Jack’s office without much care about invitations or pleasantries. Jack had taken one look at him and was jumping out of his chair, half worry and half suspicion, it seemed. Will had chuckled derisively, wondering what the suspicious look was all about. He was feeling dandy. Yeah, he was perfectly fine apart from the body on his-

He’d said _“My house is a murder scene.”_

And Jack had said _“What the hell are you on about?”_

And it hadn’t gotten any better from there.

But back to the present, because Jack was saying something, he was pretty sure about that, he-

“…to have a look at you, you don’t look that well is what I’m saying. Shouldn’t have driven to Quantico at all in this state, the hell were you thinking Will.”

The hell was he thinking. Oh yeah. He was thinking about the body on his kitchen floor. Yeah. Will went to Quantico to turn himself in, of course. For having killed James. For having -for Christ’s sake- _enjoyed_ it. That was funny wasn’t it? A FBI profiler who enjoyed killing. Something about this situation sparked as funny in his mind.

Hannibal should be long gone by now. That was good. Will didn’t want to involve him on this. There was no need to drag him down when he was an innocent bystander, just happened to be close by when-but that was funny too, wasn’t it? That he’d just happened to be close by. He seemed to be close by a lot, not that Will was complaining. Not with- _god_ -not with the way he smelled. That wonderful scent, dark, woody, spiced with wild berries and so enticing. Not with the way his body covered Will’s, with how well they fit together, like puzzle pieces, complementary. Not with the way Hannibal sounded on top of him, his pleas and helpless cries, fucking into him, deeper, deeper, faster _oh God_ -

The rapid rattling of knuckles on the car window brought him back to reality. Jack’s expression seemed closed off like he was repressing something when he leaned back to let Will get out of the car “We are here.”

Oh, right. His house. Will looked around as he would in any crime scene. Looking out for tire tracks on his entryway, footprints in the snow, shards of glass from broken windows. Any sign of disturbance. Proof of evidence.

But there wasn’t any.

“Will!” a loud call made him jump but efficiently draw back his attention to the moment “I have piles and piles of bureaucracy I should be occupying myself with right now. I don’t have time for whatever games you are playing at here.”

His harsh words startled Will, who nodded hurriedly trying his damn best to clear his head “Right. Yeah, sorry Jack, I’m feeling a bit hazy.”

Jack grasped his shoulder with a firm hand, but lowered his tone, something akin to pity in the hard lines of his face “Come on, then. Show me whatever it is you think you did.”

“Right. This way.”

They climbed the steps of the porch together and Will took a deep breath before turning the handle of the door and facing the consequence of his actions, the last barrier between Will and his crimes.

But there were no crimes to be faced either.

Will staggered through the living room towards the kitchen in silent disbelief, taking in his surroundings, trying to grasp what the fuck was happening here.

His kitchen was immaculate. The stools he remembered knocking down in his struggle with the Omega were sitting in place, nondescript. The bottles of pentobarbital on his kitchen counter, gone, as if they were never there. The blood on the floor, his gun, the murdering weapon, vanished through thin air.

James’ body was nowhere to be found.

It was like it had never happened.

It felt like an hallucination. 

Will circled around, bewildered, and that frantic feeling inside his chest turned up a notch alongside a high frequency noise loud in his ears, deafening him. _This wasn’t happening, this wasn’t happening_ \- he was losing his goddamned mind.

Jack was talking to someone, but Will was pretty sure it wasn’t him. But there was no one else around, was there? His confusion was really starting to unnerve him now and Will wished there were someone he could talk to, someone who could confirm the past events, who could back him up and take care of everything- God, Will wished Hannibal were here.

_Will, are you listening to me?_

Where was Hannibal, anyway? How could he leave?

_Will!_

Will forced himself to look up and zoom in, made himself present “Yes. Sorry. I’m listening.”

“There’s been another murder. They’ve just called. Fresh tableau, similar to the last ones, it seems” A hand to his forehead and Will leaned into it, desperate for touch “You have a fever. Come, I’ll take you to a doctor afterwards.”

_James’ body was nowhere to be found._

_Where was Hannibal?_

_Fresh tableau, similar to the last ones, it seems._

These thoughts ran over and over his head in a snowballing loop and Will was spiralling.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember how to breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was like, 3k words of pure smut, am I redeemed?
> 
> But of course I have to go and make it angsty, that's a kink of mine I guess 😇
> 
> So what the hell you guys think it's going on with Will's situation/Hannibal in general/ James' body/ these murder scenes? I always like to know your take on these things 🙃


	9. Courtship (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May I self-advertise once again? This fic right here might be the peak of my career (hopefully not, but still) so I’d like to milk it while I can (which is until next week, fuck me, it’s almost over!)
> 
> I wrote this one for Deadly’s VampireHannibalFest:
> 
> [ **Bloodborne**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26858002) (7569 words) 
> 
> So if it strikes your fancy, you know, hit it up, come say hi ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
>   
> We are heading for the finish line here guys, who’s excited? Hope you like this one!  
> *Anyone who catches the Kingdom Hearts reference is a nerd <3 *

The closer they got to Baltimore, Maryland, crime scene _du jour_ , the stranger Will felt. The hazy confusion he had been harboring since he left Hannibal was dissipating, but in its wake came a wave of desperation just as maddening. Something called to him. It was a sense of urgency, hammering on his sanity like a physical thing, demanding attention, demanding resolution. It was like a red string connected to his heart and pulling taut, dragging him along to where he was meant to be. Final destination. An oasis just around the bend of an infinite desert.

As they took a left on McCulloh Street in the direction of Druid Hill Park, this feeling ramped up in intensity, like seawater receding so, so far from the shoreline and deep into the sea before coming back with a vengeance all the way back in like a tidal wave. Of all the cities in the world, Will thought as they approached the vicinity of Hannibal’s place. Of all the streets, districts, neighborhoods.

His orbit was clashing Hannibal’s once again.

A motor was turned off and the passenger door was opened for him “Come along, now. It’s a short walk from here.” Jack was being more chivalrous than Will remembered him ever being, which tingled awareness in his mind. Something in Will’s demeanor was probably bringing out the protective instinct of an alpha without Jack even noticing it. Will hadn’t preoccupied himself with affecting the behavior of alphas around him in years. Decades. Ever since he started on suppressants.

They were in the southeast end of the park. To their left the Druid Lake with its pristine waters reflected the buildings and trees surrounding it. It was a nice day out, the wind ruffling Will’s hair and cooling down the drops of sweat on his forehead, calming him down, connecting him to the present moment. The Moorish Tower at the corner of the park could be seen straight ahead, the sound of sirens and the policemen around it bringing it into sharp contrast against the background.

Will’s heart fluttered inside his ribcage. The feeling of urgency only intensified, resonated within his chest, called him forwards towards the scene.

“Some jogger noticed the door to the tower was busted open and notified the park rangers” Jack had a hand to his back, guiding Will along between the horde of onlookers and policemen barring their way. All the alphas seemed to hone in on Will for a moment before turning their heads back to what they were doing, seemingly self-conscious “They contacted me immediately, said it was up to the BAU to _deal with this shit_ ” the last part was said with the contempt of a man who have had enough of other people’s sensibilities.

Will knew he should be focusing on the words leaving Jack’s mouth, but his thoughts were elsewhere altogether. His mind was playing a reel of possibilities of what he would find, what he would bear witness, what interesting imagery he would be gifted with. Because he knew, he knew, he knew, already what was on the other side of the door just waiting for him. He knew it, from the moment Jack and he went back to his home to find it empty. And God, how could Will have missed this? They entered the door to the crime scene together.

Everything clicked into place.

Inside the tower, center stage, a halo of light coming from the windows illuminating their serene face stood a heavenly vision that might as well belong in a museum. A painting of something holy, divine, gracing the earth with their beauty and wrath. This man was once again covered in a white flowy tunic, graceful and ethereal, adorned by a cloak of feathers, black and grey. The body was positioned just so that the arms were braced as scales, right hand cupping a sword, left hand cupping a freshly gutted heart.

Balancing death and love. Murder and devotion. All within the clutch of their capable hands.

The third and final piece of notice was the big metal necklace, copper and flamboyant, covering the span of the body’s chest, like a shield or a caress to the hidden heart beneath it. Will held his fingers over it with reverence, a millimeter away from the place Will knew intimately well contained two bullet entry points. 

“… _Brísingamen_ ” Will whispered softly in wonder of the artful flair the necklace brought to the scene, once again overwhelmed by this killer’s keen eye for detail, for the brushstrokes of beauty he brought to his gods’ tableaux.

Will had been so blind. So idiotic.

He walked backwards in slow motion, leaned onto the wall and slid down until he sat on the ground, eyes never leaving the scene. He felt his eyes brimming with unshed tears, heart full of love. It was a silent gift. A lonely one. But if Will were to be the sole bearer of its greatness, he was determined to appreciate it to its fullest.

“Will? I need you to tell me what you see” Jack’s tone was strangely attentive, like he was cautiously aware of Will’s delicate state in this moment. Like Will was something fragile.

Will gulped down the tight feeling on his throat and looked up to catch Jack’s gaze, trying to convey his feelings that were so merged with this killer’s by now, he couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began “It’s Freya. Goddess of love and war. Custodian of the field of the afterlife. That right there, _Brísingamen,_ it’s her necklace ” Will chanted softly as if from a scattered dream or a far-off memory.

Jack kneeled down beside him and put his face to his hands in clear distress “This killer and his goddamn obsession with mythology. What the hell does he mean displaying the bodies like that? Like they are paintings or something?”

“God-like acts of violence. Portrayed as art to forever preserve their beauty.” Will was so enamored he could barely keep tangent thought, his mind straying to someone out there, who in turn seemed to only have eyes for him.

The evidence had been there all along, laid bare for Will to see. Their conversations. Their mutual attraction to darkness. The way Hannibal responded with a rut to him once he was actually _seen_. Will had punished them both by deluding himself into thinking he should protect Hannibal from his acts of violence. Thinking him to be alone, even with Hannibal constantly trying to let himself in. How could he’d not have seen in Hannibal’s eyes, the dark endless drive mirroring his own?

“Is this what this is all about? Beauty?” a loud scoff that aggravated Will for its shortsightedness.

Will stared at the body that was an allegory of him. He gazed at what- _oh god_ -he gazed at the representation of how Hannibal perceived him to be. He looked at this god, this perfect picture created just for Will. _Because_ of Will. He looked at the body of the Omega Widow and his lovely green eyes, now faded by death, and those eyes stared right back at him. Mirrored his own. Reflected his soul.

Will felt with fascinated alarm and incredulity a trickle of slick sliding out of him and he gasped in surprise at his body’s response to this gift. To _his alpha’s_ gift. How easily Hannibal was able to affect him intimately. Will mused about cause and consequence and how both of them had a knack for influencing the other, even from afar. If a tree fell down in a forest without anyone around, did it still make a sound?

Jack sniffed the air with a glazed look in his face, confirming Will’s suspicion.

After all this time. Despite decades of suppressants. He was in _preheat._

Will got up in a frenzy, taking advantage of Jack’s confused state, and fled the scene altogether. Will could not repress this siren call for a minute longer.

The door to Hannibal’s house was ajar, which felt a bit presumptuous to Will, but he didn’t care in the least right now, not when he was so close to Hannibal, to this alpha, the one, the only one who truly knew him. The one that was calling out to him.

He found Hannibal by scent on his study, nursing a glass of wine, back turned to Will.

Will could see the muscles of his ribcage expanding as he took a deep breath, scenting the air, before turning to face Will, eyes glazed over, on the brink of intoxication.

“Will. You smell absolutely delectable” Will shivered with the desire he could feel pouring out of Hannibal in waves, calling out to his own. Hannibal, as far as Will was concerned, had never smelled better himself, his dark woody scent spiced and brought to the surface by Will’s own pheromones.

Will started pacing the room because he had things that needed to be said, before-before he wasn’t in control of himself any longer. Before the trickle of slick coming out of him turned into a flood. Before he stopped perceiving Hannibal as a human being with feelings and opinions and his heat-head only saw him as a primal creature, made to fulfill all of Will’s needs. He needed to focus.

Will stopped his pacing and faced Hannibal fully, disarmed and present, heart and soul in the moment. He had so much to ask “The figure of a völva is somewhat similar to a druid, is it not?” Pick one in a million.

Hannibal’s sly grin reached his eyes that sparkled with mirth “The first comes from the Old Norse mythology, whilst the second comes from the ancient Celts. But, yes, broadly speaking. Both could read omens, listen to the whispers of the dead. Both could see beyond what common folk could see. Just like you can, my dearest.”

Will nodded, charmed by it and could see imprinted on his mind for all eternity, clear as anything, the display of Freya inside the Moorish Tower “And Freya was the original völva. Resting in a tower in Druid Hill Park. It’s quite a fitting placement for such a tableau.”

“I hoped you would think so. With the added bonus, obviously, of bringing you straight back to me. Did you like my gift?”

Will closed his eyes, letting out a slow breath trying to bring to mind all the pieces that connected Hannibal the person to Hannibal the killer. All the pieces that connected back to Will. Them. Only them, and no one else.

“These have been courting gifts. You’ve been courting me. This whole time.” And if it sounded soft and uncertain to his ears it was because that’s exactly how Will felt. The possibility of such a thing had stricken a vulnerability in his core like a brand visible from the outer space. A mark deep inside his heart.

Hannibal took a step forward before stopping himself from reaching further, though it seemed like it took a toll on him to do so “Yes.”

“Me, not him. Not the Omega Widow.”

“Not him, no. Though I believe him to be a founding stone in our relationship, wouldn’t you agree? And he did make a fine doppelgänger to represent you in my last piece, if I dare say so myself.”

Still, there were pieces that did not quite fit “But your first tableau…did you know I was an omega this whole time?”

Hannibal shrugged nonchalantly, hands on the pockets of his suit pants “I visited your home as soon as I took notice of you. I saw your hormone suppressants and came up with my own conclusions.”

 _Fuck._ Will felt his throat constrict once more with unsaid emotions. That killer’s previous love letter. _Hannibal’s_ love letter. The one he thought to be dedicated to another omega, to James. The one Will enviously kept in the confines of his mind like a secret, ever since he read the scene that depicted Ēostre. Like a stolen treasure. Little did he know it was his to cherish from the start.

Hannibal’s eyes glimmered with fire stoked from his burning desire and he licked his lips delightedly like _he knew_ what was going through Will’s mind. But he didn’t say anything, like he knew Will was not finished yet.

“All this time I was confiding in you about this killer. All this time without knowing it was _you_. You must have thought me so foolish...” Will shrunk into himself a bit, flushed by the recollection of the declarations he’d made in the past unwittingly.

Hannibal shook his head once with vehemence “Oh no, darling, no. Far from it. Oh, but to see myself through your eyes, through that extraordinary mind of yours. To be noticed and described as lovingly and, dare I say, worshipfully, as you did, it was a gift on its own. Your gift to me. It was beyond my wildest expectations to be accepted so graciously by you. To affect you so” Hannibal stepped close, losing the battle against his instincts to be closer, to touch and ran the knuckles of his fingers softly down Will’s cheek.

Will closed his eyes, thriving under the caress “The first time we kissed…”

“Yes” Hannibal replied. Something in his tone made Will open his eyes to examine him.

Will was drawn short as the realization of Hannibal’s designs slowly dawned on him “You didn’t kiss me right there just because my words affected you. It was something else. Oh god, Hannibal-”

“Cunning boy” Hannibal exhaled sweetly.

“You knew he was there that day. The omega killer. You lured him to you. You used me to entice him!”

Hannibal didn’t say anything. He only looked at Will with adoration in his eyes, watching the machinery of his mind be put to good use. Will could only stare back into his eyes, speechless by the subtlety of Hannibal’s manipulations.

“You _knew._ You knew he would come after me.”

“Indeed. I saw opportunity.”

Will backed away from Hannibal’s grasp, having to put distance between them physically since it felt downright impossible to do so in the arena of his mind. But Hannibal wouldn’t have it, coming straight back into Will’s space drawn by his omega’s distress. Needing to soothe him, to appease his loved one. Needing to make himself understood.

“Will, please. The first moment I laid eyes upon you _I saw you_. As you are. As I am. No veils between us. I saw the potential in you, the one you were too afraid to see. I reckoned you just needed a little encouragement to see it for yourself. How beautiful you truly are, my dear, all the layers that constitute you. What beauty you can bring to the world if you just let yourself _be_.”

Will got frantic from there, pacing in place, needing something to do with his hands, he needed a nest, he needed Hannibal’s scent on his skin, he needed- There was so much to unfold between them and the heat wasn’t helping. His body was screaming at him to just surrender to it, just let himself be taken. His alpha was right there, having courted him, having actually triggered this heat with his courting gifts. Available and willing. Will’s for the taking.

He braced himself back against Hannibal’s desk and looked straight at him, no place for hiding anymore, not when all their cards were laid on the table “This was your design all along. You _wanted_ me to kill.”

Hannibal observed him from the other side of the study, hands gripping the armchair before him tightly, knuckles white. When he spoke, his voice was soft and honest, laying himself bare to Will as much as he knew how to “ _You_ wanted to kill, my beloved. I merely wished you to reach your full potential. To ultimately create the art you’ve been so fervently living vicariously through others.”

Will blanched at the declaration, yet again overwhelmed by being _seen_ so thoroughly. From day one Hannibal had been able to see through all of Will’s deceptions and inserted himself right into the core, where no one else had ever been.

“More than anything, my dear Will, I wished you to never doubt my devotion to you. And to persuade you to recognize that no matter the path you chose to partake, I’d forever be right beside you.”

Will felt a wave of heat scorching his skin, breaking out in goosebumps. All cards on the table, no secret longings or sordid manipulations between them anymore. As it should be between lovers. Soulmates. _Mates._ He nodded shyly and let his instincts take over, purring softly, a sound of appeasement, of surrender. A mating call. Hannibal closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, fingers digging groves in the leather of the armchair, but opened them up abruptly, alarmed by the rustling of cloth, Will’s fingers slowly unbuttoning his shirt from the top moving to the next one on his chest.

There was the Will before Hannibal and the one after him, Will mused as he finished opening his shirt deliberately. There once was a creature bred on isolation, too different to partake in society, too unstable to invest in the concept of family. Too lonely to believe there was ever another alternative.

That was the Will from before.

The Will from now. Well. The Will from now knew better. The Will from now wanted nothing more than to bear the mark of his alpha and forget there ever was a world where they were not conjoined. Will tilted his chin back, exposing the pale extension of his throat, surrendering to fate, to destiny, to whatever higher power granted him Hannibal, granted him the possibility of _this_.

Hannibal, who had been fortifying a barrier between himself and Will’s pheromones was short circuited into action. All hands on deck now.

Their collision was metaphysical.

Hannibal kissed him like he was parched for it, like he hadn’t had a drop of water in years. His hands landed on Will’s hips, lifting up on the desk and bringing him bodily closer until their crotches crashed together in a way that left both of them dizzy with desire.

Will felt desperation like a force that commanded his very being, hands fumbling with Hannibal’s belt uncoordinatedly, needing to be closer, to feel Hannibal against him, offering himself, needing to be touched. Will moaned desperately, passionately and Hannibal’s tongue delved even deeper inside his mouth, exploring every inch of him like he was a thing to be savored, to be catalogued. Will went for his belt next, trying to unbuckle it without looking, pulling back from the kiss as he dragged Hannibal’s bottom lip with him in a vicious bite, with intent to mark. His alpha needed to be marked so that everyone knew who he belonged to. Hannibal pulled back with a snarl, eyes flashing red and snared his fingers through Will’s hair, bringing his throat to his mouth, lips mapping out the shape of his tendons, tongue tracing the line of his veins. Will trembled viciously with the marked possession but Hannibal only shushed him, scenting his neck thoroughly, calming him down.

Hannibal started divesting Will of his clothing methodically, first his shirt and then his pants. Every new patch of skin revealed dutifully caressed and kissed and worshipped, a thing of beauty to be appraised. Will was back to trembling and shivering, full on heat now when Hannibal’s lips traveled to Will’s ear “I see you, my omega. I see you in all your potential. I see the family you can give me. I know you intimately.”

Will chased his eyes, his own burning with the threat of tears once again and once they connected, Hannibal looked just as affected. Hannibal stroked his face with soft fingers and wonder in his eyes, heart on his sleeve and Will kissed him with all he had, fingers blindly searching for the fly of Hannibal’s pants.

Hannibal interrupted the kiss panting on Will’s shoulder, hands encircling his wrists so to stop him, guiding Will’s hands to the edge of the desk to hold on. Will focused on the ceiling and breathed hard, just as affected, trying to stay in the moment, trying to override the heat that was driving him crazy.

Hannibal peppered Will’s neck with kisses and suck marks as he smoothly rid himself from his own clothing and Will went pliant in his hands, grateful to be touched, to be fed this connection. The next words were mouthed to the skin of his collarbones “No need to look any further, my dearest, because you caught me, you have me, forever. I will never let you go.”

Will whined a pitiful sound once again and wrapped his thighs around Hannibal’s hips to bring him closer, demanding to be had, pleading with his alpha for mercy. Hannibal groaned against his chest and brought a hand between Will’s legs, in between his cheeks where Will was dripping, slick trickling from his hole and drenching his thighs, the desk below him. Will moaned obscenely when fingers touched his entrance and delved right in, easy as anything, and so, so ready to be taken, to be filled. Hannibal dragged his fingers out of him and touched them to Will’s lips in a silent offer, eyes flashing alpha red from the pheromones pouring out of his omega. Will accepted his fingers into his mouth, running his tongue between them languorously, tasting himself on Hannibal’s skin. Hannibal locked eyes with him and seemed to hold him captive, entranced and inescapable as he lined up his cock with Will’s hole and pushed in, both of them moaning in unison, too caught up in each other to not be in sync.

Hannibal bottomed out and stayed there, catching his breath, whispering sweet nothings onto Will’s hair as Will buried his face on his chest and held on for dear life.

“No need to hide anymore because now that I know you, I love you. I worship you, I adore you.” And Will felt it, he felt this deep into his bones, his core, his very own existence. Hannibal’s love was a consuming love, an ever-encompassing love and Will knew he’d never lack for anything in his life as long as he had that.

Will knew the last step was his to make, his consent to give and he fell in love just a little bit harder with his alpha for that. He drew back from Hannibal just enough to be able to see his face, and held it between his hands, eyes locking together in the eternal frenzy that was their desire for each other.

“No need to be alone anymore because you have found me” Will whispered, completing the declaration he had shared with Hannibal once a lifetime ago, the love letter that had always been from Hannibal to _him, him_ and no one else “I am yours to take. I am yours to breed. I am yours to mate.”

Hannibal nodded frantically emanating waves of appreciation and eyed Will’s unblemished neck reverently, his to bite, to mark, to lay his claim. Will tilted his head even further back in compliance and was rewarded with a sharp thrust of hips, knot forming at the base of his cock, like Hannibal was too caught in the moment to be gentle, made feral by the stimuli that Will provided him.

Hannibal leaned his head down, after one last searching look to Will’s face and touched his lips to his neck and exhaled shakily “And now, nothing in the world can keep us apart.”

And Will knew that was a promise sworn by their lives, drawn by blood, cemented on death and murder and tableaux of beauty.

Hannibal’s teeth came down to his neck sharply, a piercing sting as he laid down his mating bite and Will was coming so hard that he blacked out on the arms of his mate.


	10. Courtship (Part 3)- Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to dedicate this fic to all the lovely people who have commented and cheered me on from the beginning. Without our weekly interactions this experience wouldn’t have been half as thrilling or enjoyable for me as it was. I felt absolutely welcomed in this fandom and my heart brims with joy for having shared this with you. So:
> 
> Trinety  
> Poinsettia  
> Sanguineheroine  
> KitanaiSasayaki  
> DrowsyMamacita  
> nethergate  
> predisposed_to_be_happy
> 
> and everyone else who took their time to read, leave kudos, comment or engage in any way, thank you 💜You’ve made this girl really happy! 
> 
> And thank you @dHannibalbaby for helping me pick locations, correcting my Spanish, cheering me on and being an absolute delight in my life 💕
> 
> Without further ado, here's the last chapter:
> 
> .

The throes of Will’s heat had passed in a blaze of glory, all need and desperation in ways Will wasn’t prepared for, but trusted in Hannibal implicitly, guilelessly and with abandon, to see him through it. Will could remember the heat only in flashes of awareness interspersed between periods of confusion when he would feel too dazed and overwhelmed, too out of his mind due to the scorching heat that took over him.

Flash-

_Will woke up exhausted and disoriented, his thoughts had a hazy feeling to them, his moments with Hannibal all jumbled together in a sensuous reel of bodies sliding together, sweat and desperation and need, need, need- The first wave of his heat had passed and with it came the deep bone exhaustion that allowed Will some sleep. But now he could feel heat burning him from the inside once more and he looked around frantically, searching for his mate only to find him reaching back, Hannibal’s body gluing itself to his, spooning behind him, mouth latched on his shoulder, leaving kisses and little sucking marks behind. Hannibal had been so good, anticipating his mate’s every need, beckoning pleasure out of him in the most delirious ways. Will moaned out loud at the sensation of wet fingers delving between his cheeks, encircling his rim that was still sore and well used from before. Will was too out of it to keep track of how many times he had been knotted and how long they had been at it, but Hannibal was the perfect alpha, perfect mate. He knew just how to gentle his omega, he knew just how to keep him satisfied. The fingers circled his hole more firmly, shy of breaching him when Will made an acknowledging little sound, lifting his leg further up on the mattress to give Hannibal more room to touch him down there. Hannibal exhaled shakily and rubbed his nose to Will’s neck, affectionately._

_The fingers added more pressure to his rim until Will gave way and they delved inside, where he was still well stretched and wet with lube and semen and spit from all the rounds before. The fingering now was halfhearted, more saying hello than actually stretching him, but Will gasped and flushed just the same, still half asleep but well on his way to desperation, needing his alpha inside him again and again._

_“Hannibal, please I need your knot, it hurts, please-”_

_“Shhh, sweetheart, calm down. You are so lovely, how could I ever deny you? I will have you as many times as you’ll let me.”_

_“Always Hannibal, you can have me whenever you want, please-”_

_The words had barely slipped out of his mouth and Hannibal was pressing inside again, hard and wanting and so fucking welcome that Will didn’t understand why he had left in the first place. They both cried out in unison when Hannibal bottomed out, bodies touching from head to toe with Hannibal pressing appreciative wet kisses all around the span of Will’s shoulders._

_The steady, gentle roll of Hannibal’s hips, lulled him to a state of relaxation like an oasis in the middle of the deep scorching heat, the heavy weight of Hannibal’s cock pushing inside him nice and easy, filling him up, again and again and again and-_

_He would be jerked back awake with a hand squishing itself between Will’s stomach and the mattress to grip tightly around his cock and stroke him punishingly, with purpose. Will wasn’t even aware he was hard and then suddenly he was coming with a force that almost blinded him, scraping for purchase on the bedsheets, his other hand drawing blood on Hannibal’s thigh and he was moaning and whimpering with an orgasm that seemed to take the better of him. And just in time Hannibal’s thrusts would go erratic, frantic and he was coming too, with a drawn out growl that came from deep within his chest, hands gripping Will’s hips tightly, bruising. And Will, still overwhelmed, still disorientated would feel the girth of Hannibal’s cock growing and expanding with his knot, stretching him wider still, demanding, consuming, pushing further against his prostate and it was too much, and it was not nearly enough. But exhaustion would take Will under in the arms of his mate until the heat demanded attention yet again._

Flash-

_He woke up again not knowing how much time had passed, lying on his back in the middle of come soaked sheets, that smelled amazing, smelled just like them, an amalgamation of what constituted them, Hannibal between his thighs. Hannibal’s body was covering his, his face pressed to Will’s throat, nuzzling his mating bite that was sore and inflamed but hurt just right. “Will?” he asked without diverting his attention from his neck, his nuzzling upgrading to long licks and brushes of his lips to delicate skin._

_“Mh-hm” Will mumbled, spreading his legs wider in welcome “Always, Hannibal. Please.”_

_“My perfect omega” Hannibal sighed before sliding back home, a long, smooth thrust of his hips that made Will whimper and hold on for dear life, arms wrapping around Hannibal’s broad shoulders and hugging him to Will’s chest, too overwhelmed to be an inch further apart._

_They lost themselves to the moment, Hannibal fucking into him slow but relentlessly, a well-bred alpha made to satisfy, to take care of, to breed- Will could feel the stretch of his thick cock, even with the copious amounts of slick that poured out of him. Hannibal’s hand inched itself between their bodies and felt around his sore rim, gathering slick on his fingers and bringing them up to taste it. Taste Will. Taste them. Will whined at the sight of it, a low purring sound escaping him, made to affect his alpha, to unhinge him._

_Hannibal dropped onto him heavily, feral and wanting, and Will laid limply under him, taking whatever was being given to him. His cock ached, sore but very much interested once again from the sheer overwhelming fullness of Hannibal’s cock driving him insane, pounding his prostate, milking him dry. Will was coming again between their bodies, untouched and desperate while Hannibal kissed the hinge of his jaw, murmured soft foreign words to him. Will closed his eyes and let the rocking of Hannibal’s hips take him under once more._

Flash-

_Hannibal was already inside of him and under him, mumbling something against the mop of curls on top of his head. It looked they were at it for a while, Hannibal’s knot huge and deep within him, his hips only capable of circling in a dirty grind that pressed his cock as deep as it would go, making him feel impossibly full. Will laid on top of him, safe and warm, listening to his heartbeat where his head rested on his chest. Will felt comfortable where he was but he lifted his head up a little bit, just enough to focus on Hannibal’s words, calling out to him._

_“Yeah” Will answered in a soft whisper “Yours. Your mate. Yours to breed.”_

_Hannibal gasped, caught in the moment, and buried his face on Will’s neck, biting him again, refreshing the wound of the mating bite, making it flare livid. Will cried out helplessly, endorphins flooding him. He held on fast and urgent and let himself be had, trusting his mate to see him through it all._

-

A hand covered his knee over the gear stick and brought his attention back to the car and the road ahead. Will glanced to the side to see Hannibal peering at him, a soft, loving look gracing his face “You were far away, my dear.”

Will looked back to the road, shaking his head softly, fondness making his cheeks dimple “I was thinking about our final arrangements for the trip.”

Will could hear Hannibal’s smile “You should have allowed me to assist. I have been doing this much longer than you have.”

Will raised his eyes to meet Abigail’s through the rear-view mirror and she winked at him “It’s alright. Abigail helped.”

“Oh, did she?” Hannibal’s tone was amused and proud.

“Yep. We went fishing together. She helped me lure them in. Besides, it’s my gift to you.”

The opportunity had presented itself perfectly. Will knew he had little time on his hands if he were to properly gift Hannibal before they ran away. He knew it was risky, knew Jack already suspected something was up ever since he fled the murder scene. But he planned to go out with a bang, not a whimper. Besides, Hannibal had written him plenty of love letters before. It was Will’s turn to write him back.

So, when Abigail and he had stopped to fill up the tank on their way to Wolf Trap to pack and a couple of red necks had come out of the establishment to make snide remarks at her about her late serial killer of a father, well. One look between Will and Abigail over the roof of the car was all it took to establish a fitting response to that. She was a natural. Will was not surprised.

Abigail had stepped away from the car without a second glance to Will and started walking down the empty road that led away from the small town, vulnerable and alone, luring the men away from any cameras or onlookers. That they had fallen for such a trap was more than enough to convince Will that they deserved what was coming for them.

Will had climbed back on his car as silently as he could, reached for his gun and cruised behind them until the opportunity to strike presented itself. From there they drove two towns over, to a boat shed by the Potomac River that Will knew would be closed by this time of the year and went to work together in silent companionship. It wasn’t all that different from the days they had spent fishing together in Wolf Trap.

That was a couple of hours back.

Now Will parked the car near the banks of the river and looked at his family, excitement making his stomach flutter with anticipation “Here we are.”

Hannibal got out of the car and peeked curiously around, giving Abigail and Will an inquiring look. Abigail linked arms with him merrily “Shall we?”

They headed together to the boat shed, which, without maintenance, found itself run down and covered with dry leaves and moss. It was of no consequence. What actually mattered laid inside. Will opened the gate a fraction, just enough to let them all in. With one last searching look at Will, Hannibal walked past him and headed inside.

Will stood behind them, laying back heavily on the gate as he tracked Hannibal’s way into the shed, his heart pounding against his ribcage. Point of no return.

The shed had high ceilings like a barn and small windows that let the sunlight slide in slanted, making for interesting shadows all around. The tableau was right in the middle of it, being illuminated unevenly, shadows creating shapes and nuances of color that brought life to his gift, made it real somehow.

The men had been carefully modelled on the ground like a painting, entwined together and beautiful in their death like they failed to be during life. The bigger one, an alpha, held onto the beta tightly as he whisked him forcefully away. One arm like a brand around his chest, the other holding a pomegranate cut in half, some seeds clearly missing from it.

The beta was facing away from him, trying to hold onto the world he used to belong to, scared of what laid ahead. He held tightly onto the alpha’s arm but extended the other one upwards, reaching towards the sky above him for the last time. He held a bouquet of asphodel and lavender in his hands, daisies decorating the curls of his wild hair.

Will caught Abigail’s eye and she looked proud and thrilled back at him. She had picked up the flowers and other arrangements for the scene while he had worked on the bodies. Will braced himself and turned his gaze to Hannibal who had crouched down next to the bodies, a very serious, concentrated expression on his face as he analyzed the scene methodically. Will smiled at his feet, charmed by his assiduousness and Abigail joined him in waiting for Hannibal’s reaction.

Hannibal cleared his throat, drawing their attention. His hand was extended towards the body of the alpha, fingertips barely grazing his chest where the cloth left it exposed. Where a long, thin suture could be seen running through the ribcage, from clavicles down to the end of the sternum. A matching wound could be seen on the lither body of the beta beside him as well. Hannibal lifted his eyes towards Will, too many emotions swirling in them for Will to be able to grasp all of them. He saw adoration. He saw awe. He saw hunger. But most of all he saw love, bursting at the seams and Will took it. Gladly, promptly. For the first time in his life he was ready to take whatever love people bestowed upon him.

“You took their hearts out” Hannibal asserted slowly, cautious with his words, the tip of his finger running delicately down the thread of the suture.

Will nodded and let him figure out the rest.

“You’ve exchanged them, have you not? Before you sutured them back into place.”

Will graced him with a dimpled smile, suddenly feeling shy about his vision. “Their hearts will forever belong to one another.”

Another wave of emotions washed over Hannibal’s face before he composed himself once again, gulping down harshly and nodding his head once. He stood up and started circling the bodies, studying them as if he would with a fine piece of art “Hades and Persephone,” he voiced quietly “on the day he kidnaps her. When he whisks her away with him to the Underworld.”

Will snorted quietly “That detail was Abigail’s idea, actually. Breadcrumbs for the FBI. Give them a clue of what this is about while they scratch their confused little heads.”

Hannibal looked at Abigail appraisingly, but almost instantly turned back to Will, careful and intent “But that’s not all the meaning inherent to this work.”

Will tilted his head with a sweet smile. He shook his head once “No. This is my love letter to you.”

Hannibal let out a stuttered breath, as affected as Will had ever seen him. He started to come towards Will, one step at time “Hades was infatuated with her. He wished to marry her as soon as he laid eyes upon her.”

Will opened up his stance. Invited him in “She grew to love him back. Once she understood who he was. The earnestness, the depth of his adoration. For the first time in her life she knew what love was, that she was _worthy of love_. She decided to stay with him.”

Hannibal reached him and his love was crimson blood dripping in a lake, ripples and ripples spreading around forever, towards infinity. He reached out a hand to caress Will’s cheek, any distance between them now unreasonable and foul.

“From that moment onwards, they ruled the Underworld together.”

Will touched the back of his hand and held it fast against his face, eyes locked together “As gods. As equals.”

Hannibal nodded tenderly and brought their foreheads together, sharing the same air. He whispered amused “I noticed the missing seeds on the pomegranate held by the alpha’s hand. Will they eventually be found inside his pursued one, as the tale goes?”

Will smiled sharply, incandescent in being able to share a language with someone who _understood_ “They sure will. Twelve seeds.”

“Oh? Twelve?”

This was it. The final bridge to burn. Will looked at Abigail who had agreed to embark on this journey with them, who had chosen them of her own accord, who was forever _theirs_. He looked at Hannibal, at his _mate_ , his family, the one thing Will craved but never thought he would afford to have. He looked at them and he was overjoyed to burn this final bridge down, because this time there would be plenty on the other side. He would never be alone again.

Will kissed Hannibal on the edge of his lips, a sweet, lingering peck. A seal and a promise “Oh yeah. One for each month of the year. I don’t intend on ever coming back.”

_4 months later_

Will walked down the Arroyo street towards the coffee shop to meet his family, the wind coming from the Rio da Prata and beyond, from the Atlantic Ocean, ruffling his hair wild with its cold breeze, making his cheeks burn. Will quite liked Buenos Aires. He liked the anonymity that came from living in a city alongside 2 million people. He liked the cultural aspect of it, and how rejoiced Hannibal was once they began frequenting the Teatro Cólon with its lush bourgeois interior, plays and operas that showed how underwhelming Baltimore’s high society truly was, according to him. Will liked that Abigail took to this new life like she was a born and raised Argentinian, picking up the language instantly and thriving on such a cosmopolitan and interesting society. He liked that although it was a big city, it had wide, expansive parks to commune with nature and it had the vast extent of water to wash away with it any sense of claustrophobia.

Will liked how they could hide here in plain sight.

He felt free, because the city provided them with opportunity of just that, a getaway from the clutches of a society that wouldn’t understand them. That would shun them. That would be better off dead and posed as art, if Will was quite honest with himself. It didn’t matter anymore. They had left that life far behind them, built a new one from scratch. And no one seemed to be looking for them close enough to figure them out.

The newspaper he had picked up on his way out of Retiro-Mitre station sat under his arm as he spotted the glass window of the coffee shop and peeked at Hannibal and Abigail sitting on the desk inside right before it. He smiled, the big, content smile that always seemed to be brought out of him when in sight of his family and moved towards them. He raised an eyebrow at the coffee shop’s name. The Shelter. This could only be Abigail at play the cheeky thing she was, he thought with a chuckle, and went inside.

Hannibal and Abigail looked cozy and comfortable sitting in the ample leather armchairs, medialunas and rich smelling coffee in front of them. Abigail was gesturing wildly in front of Hannibal who just looked at her with fond exasperation on his face.

“¡El sonido del metrónomo me vuelve loca! ¡No lo necesito si mi objetivo es simplemente seguir los acordes de una canción pop!” Abigail’s Spanish was flawless, and she adapted to the Argentinian accent easily enough, which was a source of pride to both Will and Hannibal.

Hannibal shook his head with mirth at her dramatic tone “Mientras no trabajes en tu agilidad y ubicación de los dedos, no podré enseñarte a tocar nada más que los acordes más simples.”

Will plopped down on the arm of the armchair that Hannibal was occupying, and hugged him sideways as he turned to Abigail, seeing her ready to plead with him “Whatever Hannibal says, I agree with him. He’s right about pretty much anything, anyway. Besides, I know shit about piano, and you know that.”

Abigail rolled her eyes indulgently at them “You are always ganging up on me. Fine. But only because there’s that cute guy that always comes to the recitals that I want to impress.”

“And you can surely impress just about anyone if you put your mind to it, my darling. I have complete faith in your achievements.”

Abigail dimpled at him and looked back at Will, and Will just loved to see that glow on her face. She scooched forwards in her armchair, gesturing towards the newspaper he had in hands “What have you got there?”

Will spread the paper on the table, taking a bite out of a medialuna to clear up some space. He started turning some pages until he got on the one he wanted to share “It’s ahn…page 11. Yeah. There. A Halloween Special about serial killer around the world.” He pointed at the headline to show them the dramatic two-page spread.

Hannibal straightened up in his armchair, eyes sparkling in Will’s direction as he reached forwards to read it “You don’t say…”

Will grinned deviously at the two of them and pointed at it “Number 28. Look. The _Amante Asesino_ as it were.

Abigail reached forwards and grabbed the newspaper hurriedly, turning it towards her so she could translate it to them in a hushed tone “ The lover killer is a murderer still at large whose M.O. included murder and exotic posing of his victims, displayed in what one might call artful, or just plain gory and disturbing, depending on your inclination” she lifted up her eyes, wild excitement on her face. Will only shrugged and held Hannibal closer, burying his face on top of his hair “The killer appeared to have a clear message to make, posing his victims like portraits of deities, apparently trying to show his devotion to them. The lover killer was called so because his murder tableaux were seen by the police as love letters to another, as gifts. This killer courted through killing and we are not sure yet if he had one person in mind or if he was ever successful in his courting. The investigation went to shambles as the main FBI profiler disappeared mid investigation, possibly in an attempt to protect himself from the killer’s escalating attempts to engage. It all seems to lead up to just another cold case in the United States. But it sure makes for an intensely bizarre killer who we won’t forget anytime soon!”

Hannibal mumbled from the place where he was nuzzling Will’s stomach “Feels to me like they forgot it soon enough.”

Will nodded, taking the newspaper with him to fold it back up again “For all intents and purposes it seems to me Jack is buying, even if begrudgingly, the story you planted before we left. You know, the one about taking Abigail and me away in order to keep us safe from what you concluded to be a _hinderance to your mate’s security_ ” Will mocked with a deep alpha voice that actually made Hannibal look up with a raised eyebrow. Will smirked at him and pressed on “The fact that all the tableaux contained someone that was made to resemble me was not overlooked by them. They are chasing their own tails, seemingly too preoccupied to even bother pointing fingers in our direction.”

“Just as well” Abigail concluded “Don’t get me wrong, Argentina has been nothing but kind to me. But I can’t wait to stretch my legs a bit and travel around, you know. Until I take my position as a full-time babysitter, of course.” She gazed excitedly at Will, making an enthusiastic little wiggle with her arms.

Will yelped as Hannibal pulled him from the arm of the armchair and into his lap, protective and overbearing as he couldn’t help but being ever since he found out the news of Will’s pregnancy. He placed a careful hand on top of Will’s stomach and a kiss to his cheek before turning back to Abigail “Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret” he quoted gently to her. He then turned to face Will’s profile “But know that wherever life might lead you, you will forever have a place with us.”

Will looked at his mate, feeling adoration emanating from him and engulfing Will like a hug. He looked at Abigail, carefree and wild, relieved and thrilled to be able to be who she was and still be loved by them. He looked at his belly where a baby, Will’s and Hannibal’s, a piece of them both, was growing healthy and strong, nourished by their bond and affection. A perfect baby boy. An omega.

He thought back about the people they were before fate brought them together. Abigail, traumatized by a father who didn’t love her for who she was. Hannibal, resigned to a life without a mate because no omega would ever match him and understand him like he needed them to. Will, scared of who he was and so fucking lonely, abrasive and hurting without the concept of family in his life.

He put a hand on top of Hannibal’s, and he hurt no longer.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys, hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> If you liked this one, know that my head is brimming with more of them. My next big chaptered one will be for Hannigram's ABO Big Bang, which I am thrilled to be joining this time around!
> 
> Sooo...see you next time?  
> 💜


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